“For me personally it was a good way of explaining what AFL is to a broader market, and then also being able to tell my story within it,” Cox says. “I’ve got a passion for growing the game internationally, and it’s going to take a bit of effort from my side, but also the AFL side and investment from them to see the benefit of it.”
He will share his milestone with Steele Sidebottom’s 300th, which he says “probably outdoes my little 100, to be honest”. But Cox’s moment of humility – unlike most Australians, he is happy to talk himself up – is probably wrong. Given Cox didn’t even know AFL existed until he was 23, you could argue the scale of his achievement even exceeds Sidebottom’s.
“It’s been a crazy journey,” he says. “It’s pretty unique, but it’s also pretty cool, in the same breath – to be able to say that you’re the only person to really have done something from the background that you come from. So that’s something I’ll definitely hold close to me.”
In the 60 Minutes interview, coach Craig McRae said Cox had a chip on his shoulder that drove him to prove others wrong. Cox is blunter, and funnier. Asked the best thing about being an AFL player, he quips: “I’m a bit of a competitive prick, so putting that energy out on an AFL field and beating the shit out of people is always nice.” He’s joking, but not by much.
And as much as he’s proving his many doubters wrong, Cox is proving McRae right. McRae was Collingwood’s head of development when he came to the club, and Cox thanks his coach for the time and effort he has invested in him, not just in developing his skills, but for making him feel at home.
When McRae returned to coach Collingwood, things were getting dark. “There was a lot of turmoil, as far as people getting sacked, and moved on, there was uncertainty about the future and a lot of question marks around the club in general,” Cox says. He was, he says, getting towards the back end of his career, and wondered if he, too, would be pushed out.
Cox is glad to repay the faith that Craig McRae showed in him.Credit: Getty Images
But Cox was retained, and under McRae, he is blossoming again. “I’ve always had that close connection with him over the years. He’s given so much to me at the beginning of my career, and helping me get to where I’m at now – the opportunity to be able to repay that faith was a major reason for me coming back to the club.”
And here’s the thing: at 32, in his ninth season of football, Cox is playing the most consistently influential football of his career. He doesn’t have to tear games apart, as he famously did against Richmond in the 2018 preliminary final. Playing as a ruckman who goes forward instead of the other way around, he could go for a few more years yet.
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