We need him to come good so bad
2 Likes
I bloody hope he comes back and they stick him up forward as a KPP.
Can mark
Can run
Can kick a goal
Iād be willing to gamble my life savings he would end up a better forward than jones
1 Like
If cox wasnāt a 200cm player, would you be saying what you saw was as special ?
again people seem to relate the special things he did to being tall, and thinking he can do that all the time, every game.
thereās a big difference in a kid running around with no pressure in a club appointed development year and having fun and rolling around on either foot, and sometimes hitting them sweet and them coming off, to doing it in year 4-5 and just as many passes or shots at goal missing as year one.
and people keep saying, oh no one from that draft has set the world on fire, well no not really, but theyāve mostly at least been playing and building themselves into a potential player.
ours havenāt even be able to do that, so itāll take another 2-3 years for them to develop enough to see what their ceiling is, before you can actually evaluate whether itās actually worth it.
it was always a risk drafting so many talls in one draft. yes the worst possible outcome essentially has happened, but geez 4 talls, 2 delisted after 2 years, the other 2 injured for the majority, any other side and their list manager would be being made to answer what the ā ā ā ā is going on.
100%. Eyre and Brand gone after 2 years and 0 senior games (I thought Brand was going to be a OK but maybe take some time. Eyre was no good), so you really need both Reid and Cox to come good. Not great signs so far.
You silly sausage; he is a 200 cm player, so your hypothetical in just silly, sausage !!
5 Likes
2021 wouldnāt have been as āspecialā if Cox wasnāt as tall, but it still would have been very good from a 1st year player who missed most of the previous year due to COVID restrictions. He performed well on the wing (for a first year player) regardless. That he did that and was tall and utilised that height to be a marking threat going forward was why there was so excitement about him. Especially given talls normally take longer, so him doing it in year 1 at 200cm was seen as fantastic. I mean, all else being equal his foot skills off both feat put him in the top 10% of the draft regardless of his height.
None of that guarantees heāll make it.
Why? We needed talls, the risk would have been taking 1 or 2 and putting all the eggs on them working out AND staying fit. Also, if you include the offseason we took 6 talls (Cox, Reid, Eyre, Brand, Baldwin, Wright). And we took 6 expecting some would fail. Thatās drafting.
We took 6. 1 has worked out brilliantly. 1 looked āspecialā when he got on the park. 2 later picks delisted. The other 2 have shown a bit, mostly at VFL, when they can get on the park.
But, realistically other than Wright how many were you expecting to make it? It could be still 4 of the 6 which would be an exceptionally good recruiting. The main concern is injuries which Iām not sure how he was meant to predict, plus Blitzer impatience. Lots of talls take longer, and despite the injuries Cox and Reid are nowhere near ādoneā yet.
4 Likes
Defensive Cox
https://twitter.com/charliedons/status/1658696324299239425?s=46&t=okySJ11cSb6wP1iqoMQQaw
https://twitter.com/charliedons/status/1658715642634330112?s=46&t=okySJ11cSb6wP1iqoMQQaw
Post draftā¦.
He played mainly across half-forward and on as wing in his bottom-age season but was set for a permanent move to centre half-back in 2020 (covid affected).Despite being a Western Bulldogs fan, itās a star Magpie that he models his game on
āI spend a lot of time watching Darcy Moore, heās the type of player Iād really like to be like,ā Cox said.
āHeās a good defender, really athletic and for someone his size moves really well, a skilful player and can be moved up forward if need be.
āItās a hard one not being able to put things into practice and train for that but you can still watch vision and pick up behavioural tips.
āWatching Harris Andrews and Darcy Moore, but also guys like Tom Lynch and Aaron Naughton, who are pretty athletic, tall and can play either end of the ground. You can pick up little things from just watching them.ā
20 Likes
FLETCH REPLACEMENT
Interceptor role to begin with.
Get that 2 sided confidence in his kicking again, and he might just surprise a few in '24.
12 Likes
I was kinda hoping he would be used as a forward. One that gets up the ground
2 Likes
24? Norm Smith medalist 2023 
Love your optimism.
Im afraid, once the Tigers beat us AGAIN on Sat night, our season will be up in flames !
3 Likes
I just want him to play without getting broken.
2 Likes
Looking foward to seeing what he can bring across half back later this year.
His marking ability will certainly come in handy
1 Like
But then we play all the bottom sides so we can elevate our expectations againā¦.
ā¦.only to be disappointed.
2 Likes
Oh yes, 6 and 6 heading into FarkCarlton, then we embarrass ourselves in another marquee game.
Oh sh*t, im turning into Stallion.
2 Likes
Just whatever we do with Nik, make sure he is 100% fit and ready for day one of the 2024 preseason. Same with Zach Reid.
We need them both to play 20+ games (be it AFL or VFL) next season and start developing some continuity in their footy.
1 Like
I really like the idea of him returning through the back line. I actually think his great start hurt him a little. When he started to get more attention and started to struggle a little (like most young players) his confidence was shattered. You could tell he was terrified when he was lining up for goal. Letting the ball come to him with less time to think will get him out of his head.
Good move.
2 Likes
Nothing surer
meniscus tend to go when athletes have dominant quads, and his quads are huge, he has kicked lots of footys. So yeh could be a strength and conditioning thing and maybe they were working on the imbalance pre injury, who knows.