AFL Player #13: Nik Cox 🦄 - Skipper called him 'the Unicorn' in an interview (confirmed!)

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All I've seen of him is the highlights real on YouTube; does he even have a preferred foot?!!!!!!!! What most excites me is the fact that he actually seems to think before he acts, footy smarts are rare these days (too much emphasis on athleticism).
 

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I have an odd concern with his kicking mechanics from the footage I have seen. Noting that this is similar to an NFL quarterback throwing concern; it takes a long time for him to get a kick off, as each time he kicks he lowers his body to put the ball accurately on his boot, I have not really seen anything like it before. In saying that, he has a beautiful low trajectory kick that I am sure will set players up in open play.


I think it's because he's not a natural lefty.

No matter how good the kicks are the right footer never kicks with the fluency of the left footer.
 
The more I watch this bloke I just can’t get over how good his foot skills are. How’s the set shot on the left at 2.45 👌👌

I know! That is a sign that he is legit ambidextrous.
 

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Alright Essington, let’s see if we can do this...

He’s not a wingman

He’s not going to be a ******* wingman

Him and we are not changing the entire game of football overnight.

Get that out of your heads now you hunch of non-developing, clueless fu**s

Can we PLEEEEEEEASE not spend three years on some stupid ******* experiment and turn him into a new Kepler Bradley

So he’s mobile and can run. Nice. Sounds like a good attribute for a KPP.

Work out - QUICKLY - whether he’s a forward, ruck or defender, put him there and leave. him. the. fu**. there.

No Ryder please. No 6 years playing him in ******* defence and deep forward when it’s clear as ******* daylight he’s a ruckman.

We’ve ruined hundreds of youngsters, let’s not try it again.

Are you stuck in 1990? After the ball bounces they move from traditional positions to zoned positional areas of chaos as follows;

Step 1 - Everyone in our current team plays defensive 50

Step 2 - Everyone that gets the ball bombs it into the middle of the ground where a nest of opposition players swoop on it to launch back into our defensive 50.

Step 3 - Repeat steps 1 and 2 unless an opposition goal is scored.

There is no fear of him being moved to the wing during the live contest. Rutten and the coaching staff strategically don't believe to place anyone there to provide a contest.
 
I have an odd concern with his kicking mechanics from the footage I have seen. Noting that this is similar to an NFL quarterback throwing concern; it takes a long time for him to get a kick off, as each time he kicks he lowers his body to put the ball accurately on his boot, I have not really seen anything like it before. In saying that, he has a beautiful low trajectory kick that I am sure will set players up in open play.

I have had a look at some other footage I have as there is a little something in what you have said. More so on the left but sometimes on the right when he is kicking short. It is something I have noticed as well but IMO it will not effect him too much. As you say there is just a little lowering of the body in his ball drop / kicking action but even under pressure in what I have seen it has had little effect in the end result. One player who has something slightly similar is Zaharakis although it is not as pronounced as he is not as tall. Anyway it does not worry me that much for the role he is going to play. I would be more concerned if my gun inside / outside midfielder had it in his action as these issues tend to be magnified under pressure.
What I really like is he can just roll onto the left no issues at all. It just opens the ground up so much to be able to do it.
 
I have had a look at some other footage I have as there is a little something in what you have said. More so on the left but sometimes on the right when he is kicking short. It is something I have noticed as well but IMO it will not effect him too much. As you say there is just a little lowering of the body in his ball drop / kicking action but even under pressure in what I have seen it has had little effect in the end result. One player who has something slightly similar is Zaharakis although it is not as pronounced as he is not as tall. Anyway it does not worry me that much for the role he is going to play. I would be more concerned if my gun inside / outside midfielder had it in his action as these issues tend to be magnified under pressure.
What I really like is he can just roll onto the left no issues at all. It just opens the ground up so much to be able to do it.

Could be a function of being an overgrown teenager still not quite having the coordination of his limbs. Doesn't seem to impact the outcome of his kicking, just looks a little ungainly at times.
 
Alright Essington, let’s see if we can do this...

He’s not a wingman

He’s not going to be a ******* wingman

Him and we are not changing the entire game of football overnight.

Get that out of your heads now you hunch of non-developing, clueless fu**s

Can we PLEEEEEEEASE not spend three years on some stupid ******* experiment and turn him into a new Kepler Bradley

So he’s mobile and can run. Nice. Sounds like a good attribute for a KPP.

Work out - QUICKLY - whether he’s a forward, ruck or defender, put him there and leave. him. the. fu**. there.

No Ryder please. No 6 years playing him in ******* defence and deep forward when it’s clear as ******* daylight he’s a ruckman.

We’ve ruined hundreds of youngsters, let’s not try it again.

Right now he is a defender who also has good forward craft. Can he be a winger ? not sold on that but what he can do is run and set up play so if he is in defense you can use him to intercept mark and he has the speed to carry the ball and the skills to use it well. Right now what he is not is a beast and there would be questions if he will ever be a beast. He can defend but he will have to use his height / reach to advantage and model his defending on how Fletcher did it as I can not see him every being a player who will wrestle the big beasts. Will need to use his pace of the mark to intercept or his leap and reach to spoil.
What he has shown as a forward is he can lead up and mark or work in from the side for a pack mark. As a forward his game will be about leading and work rate rather than standing and wrestling. He could pull off playing high half forward as well as he is a good mark and his pace gives him separation. Given he can play on quickly and kick on both sides with ease he can easily find the deeper targets.
My biggest concern is how much body development he has but in saying that I do not want him to become a big plodder. I like the lanky tall free mover he is and the fact he has a midfielders skill set as far as his kicking goes. My tip is if he comes on well early he will actually be able to play half back flank to start with and have some impact. If all goes well I can see a 200cm Jordan Ridley that can play both ends but also use his height to advantage against a bigger opponent if need be.
I would simply be saying to the club. Plenty of core strength work Pleeeeeeeeease and pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease bring Fletch in to work with both him and Read.:)

PS - I vaguely remember his old man playing footy. My step dad was a keen Fitzroy supporter so I saw the odd Lions game here and there. Anyway I have all his notes on the Lions players from back in the day. Skinny . Needs to bulk up a bit where some of his notes. Played at both ends of the ground :)
 
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That’s why Adam Saad left

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Right now he is a defender who also has good forward craft. Can he be a winger ? not sold on that but what he can do is run and set up play so if he is in defense you can use him to intercept mark and he has the speed to carry the ball and the skills to use it well. Right now what he is not is a beast and there would be questions if he will ever be a beast. He can defend but he will have to use his height / reach to advantage and model his defending on how Fletcher did it as I can not see him every being a player who will wrestle the big beasts. Will need to use his pace of the mark to intercept or his leap and reach to spoil.
What he has shown as a forward is he can lead up and mark or work in from the side for a pack mark. As a forward his game will be about leading and work rate rather than standing and wrestling. He could pull off playing high half forward as well as he is a good mark and his pace gives him separation. Given he can play on quickly and kick on both sides with ease he can easily find the deeper targets.
My biggest concern is how much body development he has but in saying that I do not want him to become a big plodder. I like the lanky tall free mover he is and the fact he has a midfielders skill set as far as his kicking goes. My tip is if he comes on well early he will actually be able to play half back flank to start with and have some impact. If all goes well I can see a 200cm Jordan Ridley that can play both ends but also use his height to advantage against a bigger opponent if need be.
I would simply be saying to the club. Plenty of core strength work Pleeeeeeeeease and pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease bring Fletch in to work with both him and Read.:)

PS - I vaguely remember his old man playing footy. My step dad was a keen Fitzroy supporter so I saw the odd Lions game here and there. Anyway I have all his notes on the Lions players from back in the day. Skinny . Needs to bulk up a bit where some of his notes. Played at both ends of the ground :)

Could he model his game on a Nick Blakey? Similar size, similar body shape? Nick is an outstanding player that’s still developing after 2 years?
 
That’s why Adam Saad left

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That is an all timer, I salute you
 

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