SPECIAL INTERVIEW: Interview with Australian Football Legend Corey Mckernan

Declan Link speaks to Australian Football legend Corey Mckernan ahead of the Australia vs. USA World Cup match. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:24

Hello and good afternoon to World Cup Football, etc. Declan Link here in Orlando, Florida, back from Dallas, having met my new Australian friend Corey. Today's guest, the build-up to the Australia USA game in Seattle, is uh Australian World Cup. For the Australian World Cup second group game, is someone who has absolutely dominated Australian rules football for over a decade. Corey McKernan was like no other big man, blessed with strength, mobility, and speed, with elite marking and an incredible nose for gold. He is a two-time premiership winner, AFLPA MVP, and all Australian, and one of the most memorable players in Aussies Rule football in the 1990s. Welcome, Corey.

SPEAKER_01 1:17

What a welcome, Declan. I don't often usually get that glowing uh welcome from an Englishman. It's it's it's actually very, very nice. Thank you, mate.

SPEAKER_02 1:26

My pleasure. As I said, uh on our on our podcast yesterday, I had the pleasure of your company uh in the build-up to the uh England Croatia game in Dallas the other day. Uh just a couple of sentences. How did that experience work out for you? Because obviously we were we were sitting in different parts of the stadium. Uh obviously I went home very happy with a big old smile on my face. What did you think of the game in uh in Arlington, Texas?

SPEAKER_01 1:51

No, look, I I loved it like I was very fortunate that we both share a great mutual friend in uh in Hall Burnham. And um, yeah, it's look for someone I I've I've always followed the Premier League. I'm a I've followed Man United for probably 30 years, so um and always loved my Premier League football. But it was always on my bucket list, as I said to you, you guys, in um to be able to go and see an England game in the World Cup. Um I'm not gonna be able to do that every day of the week, but it was even better catching up with you boys before the game and have a couple of beers. I'm very happy for you guys. You got the uh the result, um, played a pretty good game. But I I'm a bit worried about your defence moving forward, Declan.

SPEAKER_02 2:34

Yeah, I know you agree, and we we analyzed it last night, and um the reality is we think that, or generally we seem to think, that Gahey uh should play with Stones rather than Conza. So let's see what happens. But uh hopefully uh there'll be not too much uh difficulty in beating Ghana and then beating Panama and then going on to Atlanta, and then I think the way it's all shaping up, England will have their their first proper test uh against Mexico in the as in the iconic Azteca Stadium in the round of 16. So, anyway, let's move on from the events of a couple of days ago, because we are uh we are coming up for a massive game tonight, Australia against uh the USA. Um, you uh Corey, as an Australian Aussie sporting legend, how much does it mean to you to see the Socceros on the World Cup stage, especially playing against the host nation?

SPEAKER_01 3:28

Look, it's really interesting where football sits in the landscape of uh of Australia, that what what it really does prove is as soon as we see that green and gold jersey come out, the whole nation does get behind it. And probably as we speak in the lead up to the game uh that's that's gonna take part, that we're gonna have a chat about today in Seattle. Like the I've already seen in Melbourne in Federation Square that at three o'clock in the morning news, 10,000, 15,000 people there. So one thing it's very universal, and it definitely is the case in Australia. It finds a way to unite people and they they do lose their minds, and you know, and you know what a proud sporting nation Australia is, and as soon as we get on the world stage, we um we we nearly have this. I think I said this to you the other day, it's probably the best thing about being Australian that we'll go in the big sporting encounters, we may be underdogs, but um we'll go out there and we'll we'll expect to have a real red-hot go. And and any once you do that, anything can happen.

SPEAKER_02 4:28

Yeah, no, I I mean obviously growing up in the UK and uh you know uh our mutual friend Paul Burnham Leafy, you know, me and him have grown up together. So I understand the Australian culture. I've been all around, you know, the Australian sports over the years, and I think I told you I spent um uh a good few weeks down there in uh in November uh 2025 enjoying everything about Australia. So uh I completely get it, and I I think this is going to be uh a very, very interesting uh game tonight, not only for the uh Socceros, but for uh for the host nation USA. Now, Australia pulled off a an absolutely fantastic, sensational, brilliant 2-0 win over Turkey in their opening game. Were you surprised by that performance, or did you see it coming because of their build-up games to the World Cup?

SPEAKER_01 5:15

No, the again the I think the Australian build-up had really sort of flown under the radar a little bit. But I think I eyebrows in isn't it funny, Declan with uh selection gambles, when they come off you look like a genius, and when they don't, um everyone wants to come running for you. But um Poppavic, our coach, you know, I mean to drop your your captain and your vice captain is unheard of going into a major game, and that was a gamble that paid off handsomely with um the young goalkeeper that can't came in, hadn't hadn't really played any top five football, and he made eight saves, including a a diversion that probably won them the game. So who knows what what what happens out of today? But the the the one that was uh the the the impressive one was uh Erikunda. I hope I'm saying that right. He he became the youngest ever Australian to with to score a goal in the in the World Cup. So um again, who knows what happens once you go out on a on a game like today and you have a real red-hot go and see what happens.

SPEAKER_02 6:18

Yeah, I mean the Australian win was definitely unexpected. To a certain extent, the US hammered Paraguay, uh, and that was I think and most experts were expecting the USA to win, but not to give uh Paraguay quite the 4-1 hammering that he did. But apparently Christian Pulisic, their captain and and standout guy, has definitely been ruled out with a calf injury today. Does that change the game plan for Australia, do you think?

SPEAKER_01 6:44

Well, yeah, when I saw in the in the build-up, it's probably the one thing I have followed and seen the amount of rehab, it looks like he's been trying trying to get done. And for those people out there, calves aren't things that you can trust going into big games. Um and again, because of the the schedule of the World Cup and playing so many games very quickly, I'd be surprised whether he's going to get back in maybe at all, because and again, you you know better than anyone, Declan, like a calf is such a funny thing that you know. I mean, when you go to take off to have that faith in a game, and especially in a game like white football, that you've got those explosive movements, and yeah, he he might be in trouble for the rest of the tournament.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

Yeah, no, I I I agree. I mean, that's very it's it's like soccer on the England team is struggling with some type of injury, so they're really having to manage his his time, his mitts, uh, and and wrap him up in sort of cotton wool. So Pulisic is the um is the face of US soccer. So hopefully the uh socceros can use that to their um their advantage today. Now, when obviously I've lived here in the States for a long, long time. When the USA normally play at home in their own country, uh they often will play teams from the CONCACAF region, which is teams from Central America, teams from um the Caribbean, and obviously the the big 800-pound guerrilla, which is Mexico, their main rivals, and often the stadiums are pro the opposition. So the culture is not necessarily for the US to be able to play in front of a very raucous home crowd. How do you think the Socceros will deal with that today? Because I think the what because of the success against Paraguay, they uh the US is definitely jumping on the bandwagon and supporting the US national men's team.

SPEAKER_01 8:32

I think it's it it's interesting, Beckland, for anyone in World Sport, and it but this definitely doesn't change where all of a sudden, how do you handle that expectation? How do you handle the the 800-pound gorilla that would go on your back? And all of a sudden you you even they have probably yeah, they were the host nation, but they fly under the radar a little bit because of the landscape in American sports with the NBA finals and all these other things that are going on. All of a sudden now, all those sports are finished, the Stanley Cup's finished, they're now in the in the in the off-season of a lot of sports, they're now it's gonna be interesting to see how they handle that. And you know what? Mike Greller, he's gone out and done us a big favour, hasn't he? He's piled that pressure on even further. If you want to for those people out there, uh Australians at the best of time have a chip on their shoulder, and and it doesn't matter whether if we played England in the World Cup or anything in sport, we go out there with the expectation that if we really have a physical um a fit what we call a physical red hot go, anything could happen. And that's what's going to be interesting. If if Australia can go out in this game, they're physically in the Americans' face it in faces, and all of a sudden you take the chance. And the ultimate thing, Declan, in hostile venues of what you're trying to do, you want to put scoreboard pressure on. So all of a sudden, if Australia can flip the script, they come out, they're in their faces, and they score early, the crowd will get a bit antsy, the Australian crowd will be up and about. It's really, I don't know, that's that's the best thing you can try and go into when you go into these hostile environments. Is take the game on, be aggressive, and take your chances, and anything can happen.

SPEAKER_02 10:12

It's funny. My next question to you was have you ever heard of an American fellow called Mike Greller? So obviously you have.

SPEAKER_01 10:33

But the other thing that I've said to a few people, I don't know why we're giving much credence to a guy that he's got two passports, he's got a passport for America and he's got a passport for Italy, and he wasn't good enough to get a game for two countries, so that's how bad he's going. So I don't know. Look, it it's look, you know what? It's added a bit of spice to the clash. If it it's not gonna be the BL and all by Australia, he'd say that G. Jacqueline would be pretty sweet at the end of today, the the the game that he called a layup for the United States, they are gonna come for him pretty hard if Australia managed to pull off a victory today.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

Yeah, so just for our global listeners, um, the context of Mike Grella, who's some um ex-soccer player, professional soccer player who's on one of the TV stations over here. Uh apparently after the World Cup draw was uh done on December the 5th, 2025, uh he he was uh he he was supposedly saying that uh the the USA have a layup or a tap-in against uh Australia in the group. So uh that's my interpretation. That's what you understand as well, is it Corey?

SPEAKER_01 11:39

Yeah, it is. Look, and again, is it gonna be the the reason why Australia win the game? No, it's not. But again, you know what, you know what sports like Declan, you you if you if you can find any little edge and any little chip on your shoulder that's really gonna make you go out and um and get a victory, well well, who knows? But like I said, I uh we'd like to not think we uh we have a couple of comments from a a pundit who we don't really take uh much attention on that we yeah, that that that won't be the reason why we win or lose today.

SPEAKER_02 12:13

Yeah, uh well let's see what happens. Um couple of last questions for you, Corey. The USA have actually won the only two times, the two previous meetings with Australia, including a 2-1 friendly, ironically, last October. As a sportsman, as a leading sportsman in Australia, does that head-to-head record matter at all, or is it just a one-off type of game, fresh context and different environment?

SPEAKER_01 12:37

It it doesn't help. The only thing, if you if from a coaching staff point of view, were there any things that you picked up in that game that you can use? And again, the the talent that plays on that day, um, is it going to have anything like in today's result? No, it's not, but you you you're only trying to work out style of play and things like that. Are there things that we could bring from that last encounter that we can use to defeat them? Um, I know from playing top line sport, what happened in the last encounter doesn't mean anything. Like, but you want to be able to, okay, what are the things that we can learn that we can you know, I mean we can put into practice next time to make sure that we turn the turn the tables on their opposition.

SPEAKER_02 13:17

Yeah, no, no, I was gonna ask you, I mean, as you, someone who's lived it, breathed it, slept it, you know, it's been your life, as someone like you who has always had to perform on the big stage, do you what do you think, you know, from a philosophical perspective, separates the players who rise to moments like those who maybe shrink in moments? Because there is going to be an awful lot of pressure on the starting 11s and the squads for both teams today.

SPEAKER_01 13:42

It becomes uh when I look back in hindsight, uh Declan, I I think the biggest thing is this you you trust your preparation and you do the things that you always do in every other game. And I know it's very clear to say just trust your preparation. And then the other thing I found, and I and I really enjoyed playing in the biggest games of all, that I nearly found it a little bit liberating. If I did my all my preparation to the nth degree, it meant on game day I could really enjoy the enormity of the occasion, and you've got to embrace it. Like even though it's an enormous occasion, you've got to go out there and it and go, you know, I want to have a bit of fun today. Like I know it's an enormous occasion because you see too many times it doesn't matter what sport across the world, where um you'll have players or teams that'll freeze on the big stage. But I think that's the biggest thing, or like I I think I've taken out it when you play top line sport is if you've got a really good preparation, you really drill down on that. But hey, do it with a smile on your face and go, you know what, this is exactly why I got up early and I did all my preparation so I could land here on game day and I can really perform and and and go out and enjoy myself.

SPEAKER_02 14:56

Yeah, I mean, any top class sportsman in any sport around the world would probably completely agree with you and reiterate everything you're saying there, Corey. Right, what's uh last question? What is what does a result today mean for Australia's chances of making the knockout rounds? I mean, do you in your opinion, is it a must-win?

SPEAKER_01 15:14

Uh I think um look, I I don't think it's a must-win if they can get when I say get a result, if they can even a draw out of this game may even be a good result. Like, because as you know, the that Seattle Stadium, it's famous for the in the NFL for people that don't know with the Seattle Seahawks, has been one of the loudest stadiums in the NFL. So to be able to, you know I mean you're going into a pretty hostile environment. Um, but again, I think the door's ajar today, Declan. I I feel like with the sometimes when you have an easy victory like the Americans did in the first game and everyone, everyone starts telling you how good you are. Maybe this is the the chance for the soccer roos to land one on their chin really early in this game and maybe nick a victory. So I might maybe that might be the next question you're asking. I I'm gonna go 2-1 Socceroos uh victory.

SPEAKER_02 16:06

Brilliant. All right, well, um uh time is uh of the essence now. I know you've got to go for and watch the game. We're gonna watch the game. Um really appreciate your um your insight, uh Corey, and your time. And uh it was a pleasure meeting you the other day. You're top man, just like Paul said you were. So let's see what happens. Compelling stuff with this game, followed by Scotland playing against Morocco. What a great day of football today.

SPEAKER_01 16:32

It is, and then hopefully we'll see you in the further rounds. Wouldn't that be a great intent in Australia versus England in the World Cup? That would be one to behold.

SPEAKER_02 16:40

That would be magnificent. Right, mate, thanks for your time today.