Independent News and Views from the International Aussie Rules Community

Welcome to World Footy News Saturday, December 21 2024 @ 11:29 pm ACDT

Collingwood’s Mason Cox - Seven Moments That Define His AFL Career

  • Monday, April 13 2020 @ 07:00 pm ACST
  • Contributed by:
  • Views: 2,586
North America

The following story from Marc McGowan at the www.afl.com.au website is an excellent look back at Mason Cox’s AFL career and the journey to get to where he is today, starting back in the United States. Cox has already enjoyed an almost unexpectedly impactful career, and is likely to leave a great legacy for future prospective players from America.

Mason Cox's unlikely journey from end-of-the-rotation college basketballer to playing on Australian Football's biggest stages has won him fame he never thought possible.

Remember, this is a guy who'd never heard of the AFL and travelled to Australia to meet five clubs, unsure whether the competition was "like an eastern European basketball league that could fall over after a year".

 

Few football fans will forget Cox's performance from the 2018 preliminary final, where he became the Richmond slayer with a match-winning four-goal effort.

 The 29-year-old is still yet to watch a full replay of his greatest game, on the basis he is always hunting for his next unforgettable experience.

 

What's abundantly clear is Cox's AFL ride is already chock-a-block full of mostly good moments but at least one pretty bad one. Today, 'Coxzilla' details seven of them to AFL.com.au.

Deciding to play AFL football in 2014

"I came to Australia for the first time with my brother (Nolan) for a try-out. I'd gone to see five different clubs but it was more about getting my head wrapped around how big AFL was in Melbourne. The first day we landed, we went to AFL House and did an interview – and it was on the back page of the newspapers. We swiped about 10 of those from the 7-Eleven downstairs, because we couldn't believe we'd made it into the newspaper.

"We were just kids who went to college and were fortunate enough to play a bit of basketball here and there, and had our jobs that were going to be 9-5. So we were going down the Yellow Brick Road of graduating from college and working for 30 years, then retiring. This was such a left-field thing. We were just like, 'This is ridiculous, man'.

To continue ready Marc McGowan’s article, go to the following link: https://www.afl.com.au/news/390929/-i-was-so-s-thouse-an-american-story-with-seven-coxzilla-twists