Despite public support from Nathan Buckley and Lynden Dunn that Mason Cox would be straight back in the side following his one-match ban, the American experiment at the Pies has run its course.
Playing his first game of AFL at the age of a 25, the former Big 12 college basketball player had the makings a potential gun. At 211cm and 110kg, Cox was just what Collingwood needed at the time to inject some height and power into an underperforming squad.
His first season certainly wasn’t an overwhelming success, but Cox did show some of the signs the club must have seen in him the year prior. Playing 11 games and kicking 17 goals was a pretty good return for a man in his situation and, while he wasn’t setting the world on fire, he certainly was showing glimpses of untapped potential.
Cox’s second season, however, did highlight the problems with his game. He was proving a capable ruckman averaging 16.1 hit-outs per game but, unfortunately, he found himself competing with one of Collingwood’s best players in a poor season, Brodie Grundy.
Grundy averaged 35.7 hit-outs over the course of his 20 games and it became pretty clear that neither of the big men had the chops to be a legitimate forward option and a back-up ruckman. It was clear that Grundy was the first choice.
Having lost Travis Cloke, the Magpies were seriously lacking going forward, relying on a young Darcy Moore to be their target man. It was clear, however, that neither of the ruckmen was capable of playing this role with success.
With three rounds to go in 2017, Grundy picked up a slight injury, leaving Cox to play the next two games as the first choice ruck, during which he actually performed quite well.
Furthermore, in the dead rubber match (for the Pies) against Melbourne, Buckley decided to play the returning Grundy as well as Cox – and it worked!
The win against the Dees that began their nightmare 48 hours gave the Pies fans and coach a glimpse of what could be.
However, coming into his third season in 2018, to me it is clear that he just can’t cut it. The outlier that was the finale to the 2017 season, I would say was more a testament to Melbourne’s ability to choke rather than the quality of playing Collingwood’s big men together.
The opening game in 2018 suggests that Pies fans are in for a similar season to the last – frustrating.
Mason Cox, the 211cm giant, finished without a single mark and, at least twice, comically dropped uncontested marks in the second half. It’s impossible to execute any sort of game plan while playing a tall forward line featuring a target man who simply can’t mark the footy.
The man hadn’t even heard of AFL until he was in his early 20s and no amount of physical superiority can make up for the lack of match sense that comes from years of playing the sport.
Cox is far from the only issue the club is facing and has given AFL his best crack.
Nevertheless, I believe he has been given enough chances and, at the age of 27, Collingwood need to look elsewhere to remedy their goalscoring issues.
Rob
Guest
After Friday night, and the media frenzy regarding Cox’s performance against Richmond in the prelim, 8 contested marks and 3 goals. I think you need to reconsider your opinion.
Perry Bridge
Guest
I suggest now that this article is redundant.
Darren Hynez
Guest
Big Cox played well today.
Cisco Kid
Guest
good suggestions. I also think we should bring Corey Gault out of retirement.
Chris
Guest
I think he should be given at least a third of the opportunities the three wise men get, Walsh, McGuire and Buckley!
Pieman
Guest
My question is how can Mason Cox soar like an eagle when he is surrounded by turkeys (ed ,nathan ,walsh ?
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Injury insurance is exactly why you'd keep Cox. Keep his development simmering away and you'd almost guarantee he'll get an extended run via injury over the next three or four seasons. He'll continue to be in a developing phase over much of that period anyways.
Aligee
Guest
I have lost interest and given up on them TBH. - pathetic and sad - but true I made a couple of suggestions to win back the enthusiasm/members. 1. Hold the AGM at the Collingwood town hall 2. Play the womens at Vic Park 3. Get board members who will hold Eddie to account. I reckon you could build the enthusiasm of the support base to fever pitch around a AGM at the Collingwood town hall, Collingwood fans love tradition. Buy a couple of the pubs or lease them for the day on match days around Collingwood/Abbotsford ( there is plenty) with buses to the ground to renew enthusiasm and garner old support.
Patty
Guest
Yep, you wont get any argument from me about that. Ed has hitched his wagon to Bucks, so he knows that failure here will undermine his position. He's clearly going to do everything he can to offer support and deflect any critisism, but this can't go on forever... But the problems at the pies are not just the coach. Back to the original topic of this article and discussion. The real issue is a horribly unbalanced list stacked with the same type of dour player - that is smallish, slow midfielders/utilities with poor skills. To repeat a point I made before, we are the only club in the competition that has only 1 key position forward on their list. And to add insult to injury, the brains trust has decided to play him as a defender this year! It's really indefensible for the club to have put itself in this position.
Dony
Guest
I agree to extent but I’d give a couple more weeks. I hope for his sake he has a good year. He’s signed for 3 years I believe?
Aligee
Guest
Proof that love is blind, Eddie has allowed this to happen, or at least allowed Buckley to still be coaching. Betcha MM is dying to snipe at Eddie and Buckley.
Patty
Guest
First of all I've gotta say that I admire Mason a lot. He has wholeheartedly embraced our sport and country and is giving his absolute best representing our great club. That he is expected to play a critical role as a key forward without any support is an indictment on the list management and recruitment teams at Collingwood. The real issue is that there are no other players available to play in the key positions, so poor old Mason gets the gig by default. At any other club he would be developed and played in the position he is best suited to - ruckman. Given his relative lack of experience, it's not unreasonable to think he would still be a back up to the first choice ruck on any list. At the moment, he is a prospect with a lot of potential that needs more time to learn, gain experience and develop his game. At the pies he is being asked to play a role that he is neither ready for, nor suited to. Not really fair on him, but thats the position the club is in after years of neglect, incompetence and poor list management. It's quite extraordinary that the only key forward on the pies list is Darcy Moore. Thats it, there's nobody else. Not even any youngsters developing or any rookies either. If we had any other suitable key forward options at all, nobody would be having these conversations about Cox.
Aligee
Guest
Buckley has the enviable record of coaching against 4 f the top 10 possession winners of all time, Tom Mitchell – number 1 2018 V Collingwood (54) possesions Gary Ablett – number 3 2012 V collingwood ( 53) Tom Mitchell – number 7 2017 V Collingwood (50) Gary Ablett 2013- number 10 V Collingwood (49) The rest are Greg Williams in 1989, Barry Price in 1971, John Greening in 1971, Tony Shaw in 1991, Scott Thompson 2011, Dane Swan 2012. Maybe the phone wasn't working or something and he couldn't scream out man up. It certainly seems Manchurian candidate territory, sorry if this wrecks your weekend or something, but there is a good cartoon of George Soros dangling Barrack Obama like a puppet, him and Buckley seem similar IMO - sound credible and fantastic in news conferences ( or Buckley did) and they keep getting voted back in regardless of what they do.
Benjamin Scotti
Roar Rookie
You’re right! My mistake, point still stands
Guttsy
Guest
Stating the obvious there Cat.
Bretto
Guest
Surely Buckley is the Manchurian coach, put in place by the other teams to destroy Collingwood. Everything he does makes Collingwood a worse side.
Dony
Guest
Grundy was suspended for rounds 21 and 22 last season, not injured. Remember the tackle on Ben Brown?
Benjamin Scotti
Roar Rookie
Actually I’d say the circumstances at Collingwood mean that he will never develop the potential he has shown. Grundy is 4 years younger than him so unless he becomes ravaged by injury, Cox won’t be our number 1 ruckman. When it comes to a forward option I don’t think he can be taken seriously. Maybe at another club he could make it as a ruckman, similar to what Witts has become at Gold Coast.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
So what you're saying is that after two years of encouraging form, after one poor game it's all over? Most rucks and tall forwards will require 3-4 years of development before they even begin to get near their potential.
Cat
Roar Guru
If the head coach doesn't get to decide where the players play then that points to even bigger issues at the club.