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Player Watch Mason Cox (Delisted 2025)

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Excuse the intrusion, but ive been a fan of big Mase since day one, and i feel he's been underrated for a while now. So glad to see him get a bag of 5 and also do all the other little things he does that have an impact. Stoked for him and hope it continues as its an incredible story and he comes across as a genuinely good bloke. :)
 
Eaglemaniac said:
Excuse the intrusion, but ive been a fan of big Mase since day one, and i feel he's been underrated for a while now. So glad to see him get a bag of 5 and also do all the other little things he does that have an impact. Stoked for him and hope it continues as its an incredible story and he comes across as a genuinely good bloke. :)
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He's a genuinely gentle giant off the field but look out when he gets angry on the field lol - plays his best footy when riled.
 
Timmy from Thomastown said:
you forgot attitude and aggro.

knows he belongs and knows he intimidates the opposition.
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My favourite part of his game yesterday was when he marked the ball 50m out in the last and instead of looking to handpass it off, as he has done often this season even from much closer distances, just immediately signalled to everyone that he was going to back himself. Looked confident, kicked it and never looked like missing with a booming 60m kick, a kick many thought he was incapable of.

If he can carry that confidence into future matches, look out competition.
 
Kilmo said:
My favourite part of his game yesterday was when he marked the ball 50m out in the last and instead of looking to handpass it off, as he has done often this season even from much closer distances, just immediately signalled to everyone that he was going to back himself. Looked confident, kicked it and never looked like missing with a booming 60m kick, a kick many thought he was incapable of.

If he can carry that confidence into future matches, look out competition.
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Steelo told him he could do it also.
 

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Timmy from Thomastown said:
And he makes Grundy a better ruckman because hes capable of spending more time in the ruck than a spare parts backup....and hence keeping Grundy fresh. Will make Richmond stop and think about their model of having a complete non ruckman as a back up ruck.
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Cox has shown in this game he is not just a forward who can ruck nor a ruck who can play forward but a genuine hybrid of both. Cox is fast becoming a head ache for the opposition in both roles: the challenging of defending him up forward opens the game for our other forwards and he will monster weaker second rucks. As above, teams that run a non or weaker second ruck will be at a distinct disadvantage, this while one of if not the best ruckman in AFL is resting. Cox is a thirty game player that has shown amazing development in the few years he has played the game. Bodes well for the pies over the next few years.
 
The focus will be on his goal-kicking, marking and ruck work.

But for me, the biggest improvement over recent weeks has been his work in general play. He isn't a liability anymore with ball in hand. He actually makes good decisions and is pretty good at the old handball as well.

I've always considered that his only use would be to take a big pack mark and kick a set shot within 30 metres. Yesterday though, he snapped a goal from a stoppage, kicked one from 50, and also did a Stevie-J style snap kick from a mark where he was put on an angle.

I thought he was also very good defensively. He chases and also didn't allow the ball away easily when it was at ground. He'll get his knees dirty if he has to.

If umps start paying him every free kick he is entitled to, he will be a star.

Obviously, his ruck combination with Grundy is going well too. We had a distinct advantage when Gawn went off and Cox got to ruck against Pederson. Also, I thought Cox and Grundy totally tired Gawn out, and he looked out on his legs in that last quarter. Grundy took control.
 
As a critic of Cox and as a Melbourne supporter who has attended yesterdays game and last years round 23 debacle. Mason Cox has improved beyond sight. He still has the ability to have much more of a workload in ruck but the luxury of having a great ruckman grundy is a big advantage.
Mason has excellent mobility for his height and his advantages are huge and starting to make up for his biggest weakness ground ball efforts. Kudos to collingwood.
 
thecuzsays said:
As a critic of Cox and as a Melbourne supporter who has attended yesterdays game and last years round 23 debacle. Mason Cox has improved beyond sight. He still has the ability to have much more of a workload in ruck but the luxury of having a great ruckman grundy is a big advantage.
Mason has excellent mobility for his height and his advantages are huge and starting to make up for his biggest weakness ground ball efforts. Kudos to collingwood.
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Kind comments but you obviously missed Coxy - whilst going to ground in the 1st quarter - gather the ball and hit a Collingwood player on the way past him from within the pack.

Far from ponderous on the ground level - especially for his size.
 

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OniAu said:
Will only get better , can see him playing into his mid 30s also with his size
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This in particular ive been wondering about, Cox, 27 is now entering the prime years for a big man, but how much longer will he be playing AFL? Sandilands at the same height is still playing whilst being 8-9 years older than Cox, coupled that with the fact Cox didnt start feeling the physical side of football until his mid 20’s + the support of Brodie Grundy and you would think Mase could be on our list till his early 30’s, another 5-6 years possibly more.
 
As a whole, his 2018 statistically is starting to look very handy for a second ruck/forward.

11 goals from 11 games, from your second ruckman you take that any day of the week, it’s what made David Hale, Brad Ottens and Jolly for us in 2010 so handy, Dawes and Lynch couldnt hit the scoreboard like Cox when they played ruck.

22 contested marks in 11 games(6th in the afl), this stat i really like considering his marking right now is improving weekly, if he hits some form the second half of the year he could triple that number of contested marks before the end of the year.

8.6 hitouts a year, couple that with Grundys 38.1 a game and we are 3rd in the AFL with just over 46 hitouts a game, second behind Melbourne(who we just beat in the ruck) and West Coast. I swear at once stage we were worst in the AFL for hitouts per game, now after the Gawn battle there is no ruckman in the AFL Grundy and Cox shouldn’t be confident about beating.
 
Kilmo said:
My favourite part of his game yesterday was when he marked the ball 50m out in the last and instead of looking to handpass it off, as he has done often this season even from much closer distances, just immediately signalled to everyone that he was going to back himself. Looked confident, kicked it and never looked like missing with a booming 60m kick, a kick many thought he was incapable of.

If he can carry that confidence into future matches, look out competition.
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Buckley stated that he has been kicking it that far last year.
But they had told him to look for more options this year. And he has been and mostly that’s been a disaster.
So looks like he’s decided to go back to trusting in himself.
 
lenny20 said:
Interested to see what you thought of Cox's game today Seed? From where I'm sitting, he's been building all year and hasn't done too much wrong since the Hawks outing.
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Goalless in 6 games this year. They key is consistency he played well against a poor defence. (Before people go off at me we had 3 forwards kick 4 or more). He needs to start stringing consistent performances together. That by no means he has to kick 5 every week but in the back half of the year he should hope to build to only being held goalless once every 5 games as opposed to 6 out of 11 games.
 

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marshdogg said:
I'd rather pay Cox big bucks than Lynch or Moore. Lynch and Moore are prototype modern footballers, but Cox offers a unique physical attribute which cannot be understated. In very simple terms opposition teams can't play a standard third man up, which provides a great structural advantage, and I believe this is why every week, between all a small forwards there is always someone popping up to kick a bag of 3 or 4.
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Lynch and Moore are both more talented footballers. The key to defending Cox is engaging the body. He struggles when that happens the times he was given the most space was the first half of the Richmond game and against Melbourne. Good sides will send a strong defender to him and keep him engaged so he can’t run and jump at the ball.

What Collingwood and Cox needs to work out is how does he combat this? As he is not an explosive athlete who is going to get of the mark fast and at his age and with the modern running requirements as a footballer I struggle to see him adding muscle mass to aid him in this regard.

I think it has to come from work with the coaches and he will have to work with what he has. Now he has a high center of gravity that makes him easier to move of the ball so what they need to work on is how he judges it in flight.

As for him to counter people trying to knock him off the ball he has to drop his body height so he can better use his strength and weight and then at the right moment push off them and take the ball. If he is to do that he will be far more balanced when he tries to take the mark and he would of completely and legally put his opponent out of the contest
 
Kirby said:
Here we go.....
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It's the way of BF for so many.:D

Defend your position in the face of facts, never admit you're wrong.
 
Seedsfan said:
Lynch and Moore are both more talented footballers. The key to defending Cox is engaging the body. He struggles when that happens the times he was given the most space was the first half of the Richmond game and against Melbourne. Good sides will send a strong defender to him and keep him engaged so he can’t run and jump at the ball.

What Collingwood and Cox needs to work out is how does he combat this? As he is not an explosive athlete who is going to get of the mark fast and at his age and with the modern running requirements as a footballer I struggle to see him adding muscle mass to aid him in this regard.

I think it has to come from work with the coaches and he will have to work with what he has. Now he has a high center of gravity that makes him easier to move of the ball so what they need to work on is how he judges it in flight.

As for him to counter people trying to knock him off the ball he has to drop his body height so he can better use his strength and weight and then at the right moment push off them and take the ball. If he is to do that he will be far more balanced when he tries to take the mark and he would of completely and legally put his opponent out of the contest
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Do you think our defence is poor? Because their defence only leaked 5pts a game more than us up until Monday.
 

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Player Watch Mason Cox (Delisted 2025)

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