#46 Mason Cox

[Dr Pie]

I wish we had had him after we cleared Chris Dawes. Cloke would never had his confidence destroyed by being double and triple teamed season after season. Next year I would like to see Tom Lynch at full forward and Mason Cox in the forward pocket, drawing the tallest defender away from Lynch and kicking the odd goal.

[masoncox]

Interesting question
If only one out of Reid or Cox could play forward who would you choose?

Reid because he is the better player.

But are you saying the other will play elsewhere?

I am only talking about the forward line

[Jezza]

Looked better, especially in the second half. Took some good marks which would have added some much needed confidence for him.

We need to keep persisting with him.

[foreigner]

He'll do good if he learns to take chest marks as well, especially in the wet in addition to the hands in the air marks he usually takes.

Does anyone else thinks he lacks a bit of confidence in his kicking, which is usually reliable even with his own style. When he takes a mark he almost always looks to handball it away to someone closeby without taking the kick.

[RudeBoy]

He'll do good if he learns to take chest marks as well, especially in the wet in addition to the hands in the air marks he usually takes.

Does anyone else thinks he lacks a bit of confidence in his kicking, which is usually reliable even with his own style. When he takes a mark he almost always looks to handball it away to someone closeby without taking the kick.

Also, his handballs have become very predictable and he often handballs it directly behind him, such that the receiver is immediately put under pressure. He's got enormous scope for improvement, but if he can make last week's form his base level and get better over time, we may just have a player.

[masoncox]

He just needs blocks of games and he will do extra well.
Started badly today but got better and better

[Magpietothemax]

Thought he was brilliant today in many ways.
He is a player of a totally different kind...something we have never seen before, i venture to say, in the history of the game.A player whose major weapon is not so much physical as intellectual His comprehension of the game is phenomenall will achieve the astonishing by coupling
his physical attributes (hsight and mnual dexterity) with cognisance

[AN_Inkling]

^^Completely agree. Can have an impact on a game with only a few touches as he did last week. As his confidence grows though, he has the chance to be a real handful.

I'm not one of those who thinks we need too many more talls. If Cox continues improving, he's our full forward.

What we need is smart talls who have more than one string to their bow. Dominant key forwards just aren't needed any more. They're often a weakness for the team and I really hope we don't overspend on someone like Lynch.

[Cam]

If he can learn to deal with the early bump against him... he could monster defences...

[RudeBoy]

^^Completely agree. Can have an impact on a game with only a few touches as he did last week. As his confidence grows though, he has the chance to be a real handful.

I'm not one of those who thinks we need too many more talls. If Cox continues improving, he's our full forward.

What we need is smart talls who have more than one string to their bow. Dominant key forwards just aren't needed any more. They're often a weakness for the team and I really hope we don't overspend on someone like Lynch.

You're kidding inky. Reid is very near the end of his career, and given his injury history, he's a week to week proposition. Also, as great as Dunn is playing, he is also in his 30s and near the end of his career. So we definitely need another established KPP. Tom Lynch, come on down.

[AN_Inkling]

^^Not one that's going to cost over $1M and possibly players/picks in a trade.

Just keep seeing across the league that KPP dominant forward lines are not helping anyone. For me, it's not the type of player to massively overspend on.

Moore's going to take over from Dunne. We also have McClarty coming through. We are playing our best footy with only one tall defender and we've just played teams with supposedly some of the best KPFs in the comp. They could barely score. KPPs just aren't critical anymore.

Lynch is a good player, I wouldn't mind having him, but the cost is the question. Our forward line has never looked better with more mobility and midfielders rotating through. I think there are better value options than Lynch and if we can continue our form there should be many players who'd be happy to play for us.

[Albert Parker]

^Moore should take Reid's spot in the team when he comes back. I agree, it makes sense to chase Lynch still. Reid has virtually no pressure or second effort in him it seems. Wasn't even flying for marks at times.

Cox is a real handful. He does make the opposition panic and he's starting to build confidence.

[stui magpie]

This year's draft is apparently choc full of talls, let's draft some.

In the mean time, Cox is doing well and the commentators are picking up on his value.

[RudeBoy]

Reid is the one we need to replace, and in 12 months time we'll need a replacement for Dunn.

For my money, that screams that we should recruit Tom Lynch.

[AN_Inkling]

I think we need one more young tall. There are better value options than Lynch, because star KPFs, to me, are not needed and can be a negative. A star defender is more important which is what I'm hoping Moore becomes (expecting really).

We have McClarty as a possible replacement for Reid as early as next year. Could do with one more for coverage, but at a pinch you can easily get away with playing one KPF, just as we are with playing one KPD.

Runners are far more important than KPP these days. Just look at the impact that Murray and Stephenson have had and the other runners we've been bringing in. So glad that we took Stephenson instead of a KPP in the draft.

Instead of Lynch, I'd look at a better value tall and another runner (possibly a small forward with elite pressure to replace Varcoe). That's two players who can perform a role instead of one and likely losing draft picks or quality players.