Player Watch Mason Cox (Delisted 2025)

[Saintly Viewed]

Can someone please help me out with a simple question (which I think explains why Cox stays in the list)?

• If Grundy gets injured, (say a neck injury and misses 5 weeks) who will do our ruck work?

Hence, Cox stays, that's his greatest plus to be kept on the list.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Can someone please help me out with a simple question (which I think explains why Cox stays in the list)?

• If Grundy gets injured, (say a neck injury and misses 5 weeks) who will do our ruck work?

Hence, Cox stays, that's his greatest plus to be kept on the list.

This.

Witts left for more opportunity. Cox will stay because hes not at the Witts level of ability to walk into another club and demand the spot as first ruck. And given the investment in him I think its fair to give him another season to see if he can improve or until somebody better comes along

 

[loki04]

Yeah agreed, its that unnatural goofy look he sometimes has going for a mark that makes us assume he takes no contested marks. If he can iron out that and take a few more of them he will suddenly become something to be reckoned with. Its possible as his marking numbers, in particular his contested marks, in the VFL this year are off the chart, way above the numbers anyone produces in that AFL. Will be interesting to see how much of that he can transpose to the AFL with time.

No, it's the many marks he drops when an opponent touches him even slightly. It is an area he needs major work in imo.

 

[Anzacday]

I think the umpires did him a disservice pay soft free kicks last year, (Richmond game eg).
Now he thinks every-time he's touched he should get a free.
Someone needs to tell him our game isn't usually umpired like it's basketball and he needs to toughen up and focus on marking the ball.
I'd still persevere with him by the way.

 

[magpie_marty]

I have commented on this a few times recently. If anything the thing Cox can't do often enough is mark uncontested. He looks unnatural in a marking situation and because of his size we think he should take more contested marks but he does in fact take them.

An anomaly he probably shares with no one else in the AFL is his contested mark numbers are higher than his uncontested mark numbers career wise( closing now currently 23:22). That needs attention and if he got a few more uncontested and stat numbers went up his value would increase. He will get more contested marks as his game matures but its really not one of his faults. In a contasted situation he takes some of them and the others generally come to ground. That's not a bad starting point.

I think what Mason Cox has achieved so far playing our game has been outstanding and a credit to him and his family.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

I think what Mason Cox has achieved so far playing our game has been outstanding and a credit to him and his family.

Yes, not that its got anything to do with anything.

He tries his guts out and has passion dedication and team ethic.

 

[Gone Critical]

No, it's the many marks he drops when an opponent touches him even slightly. It is an area he needs major work in imo.

I think those marks stand out too much because he is such a big man and we give him little credit and expect a lot of him in the contest

In the Hawthorn game he took 3 marks inside the 50, one he stood in front as a pack formed and was just too big despite a pack jumping around him. One other he jumped above Fas and Sicily and took them out of the contest and the other he ran back and jumped over Fas and Birchall giving Birchall no chance to spoil given Cox's size. Only the pack mark was rated contested. My point is all these marks involved some degree of contact and increasingly, albeit incrementally, he is better with contact. I dont think this problem is as major as you feel it is.

The other area which makes me feel he is progressing is the VFL numbers he put up this year

He has 5 games
Round 1 6 marks 4 contested
Round 5 8 marks 1 contested
Round 7 7 marks 5 contested
Round 8 5 marks 3 contested
Round 10 15 marks 4 contested

Averages 8.2 marks per game. 3.4 contested marks per game.

I am not saying he will clearly make it and on Saturday he was disappointing. Still there is improvement and the physical side of the game is improving. He is still very green. How much he improves I don't know but but I dont think he is as fragile with touch as he was in 2016.

 

[ash84]

Moore is just 21 though. Of course he needs to better and that will come with maturity . He has shown he can do a lot of things Cox cant though.

And Cox is now 26. Cox is as good as he'll ever get.

I think Cox will improve with every season.
Only his second season, a handful of games.
He'd learn from every game.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

I think Cox will improve with every season.
Only his second season, a handful of games.
He'd learn from every game.

As I said at the start of the year. At his age learning a new sport the learning curve is very steep. Happy for him to stay on in 2018 and prove me wrong but he doesnt have the luxury of the same amount of time that others get.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

I have commented on this a few times recently. If anything the thing Cox can't do often enough is mark uncontested. He looks unnatural in a marking situation and because of his size we think he should take more contested marks but he does in fact take them.

An anomaly he probably shares with no one else in the AFL is his contested mark numbers are higher than his uncontested mark numbers career wise( closing now currently 23:22). That needs attention and if he got a few more uncontested and stat numbers went up his value would increase. He will get more contested marks as his game matures but its really not one of his faults. In a contasted situation he takes some of them and the others generally come to ground. That's not a bad starting point.

Not surrprising re his uncontested numbers because no one passes it to him when he's clear.

 

[pablo disco bar]

Jesse white should be playing instead tbh but i like the novelty factor

 

[Robroy22]

Moore is just 21 though. Of course he needs to better and that will come with maturity . He has shown he can do a lot of things Cox cant though.

And Cox is now 26. Cox is as good as he'll ever get.

Huh? the guy is 2 years into a career...he'll keep improving as long as CFC puts expertise into him. He's just like a baby Giraffe atm...but he learns and he does what he's told...give him two more years of development and then tell me he's a dud.

 

[Quicky]

Yeah agreed, its that unnatural goofy look he sometimes has going for a mark that makes us assume he takes no contested marks. If he can iron out that and take a few more of them he will suddenly become something to be reckoned with. Its possible as his marking numbers, in particular his contested marks, in the VFL this year are off the chart, way above the numbers anyone produces in that AFL. Will be interesting to see how much of that he can transpose to the AFL with time.

Thanks for this perspective. I hadn't thought of it this way. One thing that Cox does is goes missing and doesn't touch it for extended periods. And that speaks to those uncontested marking numbers you mention.

The Hawthorn game is a great example. He had no stat at all for over a quarter. Then shortly after that had kicked 3 goals. If he'd been more involved before then it would have been a well rounded performance.

It still doesn't stop him being a liability at ground level. If we're to play him I think we need to recognise that. And if it's to be successful put structures in place to deal with it. You can't play 5 forwards and have three of those Cox, Fasolo and Moore. It's no wonder teams walk it out of our backline. He needs ground level support. If we had good crumbers at his feet it would be an entirely different dynamic forward. But we have no crumbers. And it's a big ask to restructure a forward line to favour a player like Cox.

 

[Countrypie]

Not surrprising re his uncontested numbers because no one passes it to him when he's clear.

Yep - it's been damning - he's not the only one it happens too but it happens too often. Crisp is the major culprit

 

[Countrypie]

Thanks for this perspective. I hadn't thought of it this way. One thing that Cox does is goes missing and doesn't touch it for extended periods. And that speaks to those uncontested marking numbers you mention.

The Hawthorn game is a great example. He had no stat at all for over a quarter. Then shortly after that had kicked 3 goals. If he'd been more involved before then it would have been a well rounded performance.

It still doesn't stop him being a liability at ground level. If we're to play him I think we need to recognise that. And if it's to be successful put structures in place to deal with it. You can't play 5 forwards and have three of those Cox, Fasolo and Moore. It's no wonder teams walk it out of our backline. He needs ground level support. If we had good crumbers at his feet it would be an entirely different dynamic forward. But we have no crumbers. And it's a big ask to restructure a forward line to favour a player like Cox.

Great point. If Faz goes next year (which seems likely) Kirby would be the perfect foil for whoever plays deep fwd. Maybe he's the perfect foil already but to play KIrby you need to drop a small fwd and that would nean Faz, Elliott or a midfielder

 

[10571z]

Moore is just 21 though. Of course he needs to better and that will come with maturity . He has shown he can do a lot of things Cox cant though.

And Cox is now 26. Cox is as good as he'll ever get.

Do you actually believe that?

He has played f all football. Showed a fair bit in his limited time! Could easily keep improving although i would like him to be 24 not 26

 

[jackcass]

Great point. If Faz goes next year (which seems likely) Kirby would be the perfect foil for whoever plays deep fwd. Maybe he's the perfect foil already but to play KIrby you need to drop a small fwd and that would nean Faz, Elliott or a midfielder

I would rather we actually play a 6-6-6 structure more often than not which would alter the options for including Kirby. Still allows the HF's to line-up between wing and HF at centre bounces, and wings to line-up between wing and HB if you wanted a more defensive focus.

 

[Anzacday]

Yep - it's been damning - he's not the only one it happens too but it happens too often. Crisp is the major culprit

Faz is another one who ignores him.

 

[Frank Gallagher]

I'll spew if they drop him again, give him the rest of the year and direct the team to kick it to him when he's one on one.

 

[DaVe86]

Do you actually believe that?

He has played f all football. Showed a fair bit in his limited time! Could easily keep improving although i would like him to be 24 not 26

I agree that he'll improve. He'll get better with every year, and may just hit his peak around 28 or 29.

But that said, it's not outrageous to say that he isn't a really good long term option given we might only see him at his peak for 2 or so years before he'll start declining again due to age.

Perhaps due to the lack of physical toll he'll have on his body (starting footy so late), that he'll be able to play deeper into his 30's. Not like speed or agility are major assets...and he won't get shorter.

He is definitely worth keeping on the list, even at worst as a high quality backup ruckman. But I don't hold out major hope for him to be honest.

 

[10571z]

I agree that he'll improve. He'll get better with every year, and may just hit his peak around 28 or 29.

But that said, it's not outrageous to say that he isn't a really good long term option given we might only see him at his peak for 2 or so years before he'll start declining again due to age.

Perhaps due to the lack of physical toll he'll have on his body (starting footy so late), that he'll be able to play deeper into his 30's. Not like speed or agility are major assets...and he won't get shorter.

He is definitely worth keeping on the list, even at worst as a high quality backup ruckman. But I don't hold out major hope for him to be honest.

Agreed mate. If Grundy went down and we delisted Cox we would be cooked. Cox is a decent ruckman. Obviously we would have loved to keep witts but simply he was offered more opportunity.

 

[Timmy from Thomastown]

Do you actually believe that?

He has played f all football. Showed a fair bit in his limited time! Could easily keep improving although i would like him to be 24 not 26

Yes.

I'd be rapt to be wrong and I've already stated he should remain on our list in 2018

Interesting you say "keep improving". I dont think he has shown much at all.

 

[pablo disco bar]

Dont reckon he'll be at the pies next year

 

[Deathray]

Always had great hope someone like Cox or Jason Holmes at St Kilda would do well and open the floodgates to usa athletes. A full forward built like Dwight Howard taking the game by storm like Paul Salmon in the 80s would be awesome. Reality is it ain't gonna happen.

 

[whiskeytown]

Hopefully they haven't ruled a line through his name as a forward and give him a game again as soon as he kicks another VFL haul.

If the midfield could hit a target Cox would kick 2-3 every week