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In 2018, Mason Cox was standing the mark when Dom Sheed kicked the goal that won the grand final for West Coast.
It’s a moment he has been trying to flush out of his mind ever since. He has now exorcised those demons.
Sinking feeling: Magpies Taylor Adams and Mason Cox react after Luke Sheed kicks the winning goal for West Coast in the grand final in 2018.Credit: Wayne Ludbey
The beanpole from America who arrived in Australia with no idea of the game, the culture or any friends has now achieved the childhood dream of many people in his adopted home.
Few stories in this game are as rich as that of Cox, the foreigner turned Australian whose career has entered the folklore of this sport.
“2018, it gave me an ill feeling whenever people brought it up, it was always something you’d be frustrated about,” Cox said.
“One kick, you think ‘I could have done this, someone could have done that, or we could have done this as a team’, one little thing might have changed that whole situation.”
Cox (left) celebrates with the 2023 AFL premiership trophy.Credit: Eddie Jim
When his head hits the pillow in the days, weeks and months to come, he will no longer have those “what if” moments replaying in his mind. Now there are happy memories, of the day the Magpies defied their history of losing grand finals by winning an epic – and his role in it.
He may have been one of the millions around the country watching the game on TV if not for coach Craig McRae, whom he credits for saving his career. The two go way back, to the start of Cox’s Australian story. McRae was the coach who taught him how to kick.