Collingwood big man Mason Cox is confident his side has the forward line to match it with Brisbane’s high-powered attackers in the 2023 Grand Final.
Speaking with Fox Footy earlier in the year, Cox claimed the Pies weren’t a “one-stop shop” as he prepares to play more minutes forward to cover the loss of Dan McStay to injury earlier in the week.
“You can look at every one in the forward line – I don’t think there’s anyone you look at and go, ‘OK we don’t really have to worry about that today’,” he said.
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“We can kick goals from multiple angles, multiple different ways.
“We’re not a one-stop shop team.
“I think for the opposition that causes troubles.
“It’s good to have options going forward.”
Cox has shrugged off criticism this season from Fox Footy analyst David King that he could become “just like Seinfeld” – “a big show about nothing” – to be one of the Pies’ better finals performers.
But he’ll get a big task up against the likes of Lions intercept king Harris Andrews.
“I’ve got Mason Cox playing centre half-forward to try and engage Harris Andrews,” Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon told On the Couch. “Whether Cox can take him deep … he’s got to pose a real aerial threat Mason.”
“Mason Cox, you would have thought they’d put some work into Harris Andrews. We’ve seen it many times – the most famous is the 2018 preliminary final against Richmond for the kickers to drop it in favour of Mason Cox,” Lions premiership hero Jonathan Brown added.
“(I) wouldn’t be surprised if Collingwood goes a similar tactic.”
One tactic that shouldn’t worry Cox is someone targeting him physically – given his willingness to get in the face of opposition.
Already this season, Crow Ben Keays copped a fine for going after Cox’s prescription glasses that he has special AFL approval to wear each game.
Cox only started wearing the prescription glasses, estimated to cost between $3000 and $4000 a pair, in 2022 after a tough run with career-threatening eye injuries.
He’s undergone six different surgeries – three on his left eye, two on his right, plus cataract surgery in the past four years as a result.
Back-to-back surgeries left Cox practically legally blind for a short period in 2019, where he had to spend two weeks in a dark room positioned on his back for 45 minutes of every hour, unable to move, watch TV or use his phone.
Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has claimed opposition players purposefully target Cox’s eyes in melees as a way to rattle the big man.
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“It goes back a fair while and I had to bite my lip at the time because his eyes have been targeted over the years,” McGuire said.
“Because he’s American, he’s the tall guy and all that sort of stuff, there seems to be a set of rules for him and then there are others.
“The thing with Cox is he doesn’t deserve to get any less attention but he certainly doesn’t need to get extra attention.”
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