Footy fans blow up at Mason Cox’s bizarre pre-game antics: ‘Arrogance has no limits’
Mason Cox #MasonCox
Collingwood star Mason Cox has been roasted for a pre-match incident before his side’s opening-round 32-point loss to the GWS Giants at Engie Stadium on Saturday night.
Overwhelmed by a full-throttle orange tsunami, the Magpies were denied the perfect start to their premiership defence by a decisive 32-point win – 18.6 (114) to 11.16 (82).
The Collingwood ruckman had a quiet match, but it was his antics before the match that stunned many fans.
As players were warming up before the game, the American big man decided to barge into the GWS players’ area and shove Giants great Shane Mumford and take a mark.
GWS players and Mumford looked anything but impressed by the move, and fans watching at home were outraged.
GWS ran over the top of Collingwood at Engie Stadium on Saturday night
‘Just cringe this,’ wrote one X user.
‘Arrogance has no limits,’ replied another.
‘Only touch of the game,’ said a third.
The Orange Army had the last laugh with the Magpies defence unravelling under the Giants’ firepower with Irish forward Callum Brown boasting a career-best haul of five goals followed by Jesse Hogan (4.0) and Brent Daniels (4.0).
Collingwood kicked four of the last five goals but could not pull off a signature comeback win.
‘We learned some really good lessons early,’ Collingwood coach Craig McRae said after the match.
‘Coming into the game, we thought we’d improve physically and then you get there and you get reality – everyone else is improving.
‘We want to have deep wins and nourish those wins. We will have shallow losses but we’ll learn the lessons really quickly.
Overwhelmed by a full-throttle orange tsunami, the Magpies were denied the perfect start to their premiership defence
GWS were unruffled by Mason Cox’s pre-game antics, with the Giants doing it comfortably
‘We come back in six days time and we play the Swans at the MCG.
‘We get back to work and we’ve got six days to do that.’
Without Jeremy Howe and Nathan Murphy, the Collingwood defence struggled in the air against the GWS talls.
Brown was able to slot two goals unmarked while Hogan flaunted his aerial prowess against the likes of Collingwood’s Darcy Moore, Isaac Quaynor and Brayden Maynard.
‘That’s the way we want to play. We want to be aggressive in defence,’ McRae said.
‘Funnily enough, when we weren’t, that’s when we got hurt.
‘The Giants’ talls influence the game aerially and we just didn’t impact that part of the game.’
Coach Craig McRae said Collingwood ‘learned some really good lessons early’
Brody Mihocek kicked three goals and Bobby Hill snatched two against his old side while brothers Nick (34 disposals, 10 clearances, one goal) and Josh Daicos (28 touches) were typically busy.
Collingwood should have received more reward for effort on the scoreboard after finishing the game with 60 inside-50s to GWS’ 53 but it was their inaccuracy that cost them.
Recruited to add depth in the forward line, former Fremantle forward Lachie Schultz made his debut but fell short of kicking his first goal for the club with three behinds.
‘The stats would say we had opportunities to score well but we just didn’t connect on the top 50,’ McRae said.
‘There’s a little rushing to get the ball inside 50 and then not be set for us and then you turn the ball over.’
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