Mason Cox doubles down in heated war of words with GWS boss
The Collingwood ruckman has not held back as he takes another swipe at he Giants.
Veteran Collingwood ruckman Mason Cox has doubled down on his dig at Greater Western Sydney's home ground, continuing a bitter war of words with GWS CEO Dave Matthews. The AFL unveiled its new ‘Opening Round’ concept on Wednesday, which will see the opening matches of the season played in Sydney and Brisbane in an attempt to attract rugby league fans while the NRL is in Las Vegas.
Cox is not impressed that the defending premiers opening game is being held at the Giants' home ground and promptly took a swipe at the field which is used as a showground for the Sydney Royal Easter Show. “Round 1 NRL goes to Las Vegas. AFL premiers go to… a showground for livestock,” he wrote on X.
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In response, GWS' CEO called Cox's remarks “D-grade comedy” and questioned whether he would even be named in the side that travels to Sydney. “I guess that’s his thing. I guess it resonates with some people. I didn’t see it, someone showed it to me," Matthews said on SEN’s The Captains Run.
“I guess our players and fans are looking forward to giving him a warm welcome when he does get here, assuming he’s in the side.” After the remarks Cox doubled down on his comments, once again taking to X to write: "Thinking facts are comedy says enough".
The American is pushing for the AFL to follow the lead of the NRL and head to the US to expand the game. In a recent post to X, he wrote: "I would love to eventually see a game in the US like the NRL. There are now proper cricket stadiums located in the country that can host them and I don’t think many teams would be opposed to a US trip."
Cox laughs off claims Collingwood didn't deserve to win the flag
The Collingwood ruckman has spent a large part of the offseason stirring the pot, recently clapping back at Steven May's eye-opening remarks during the AFL finals series. May raised eyebrows around the footy world when he said the Demons were "much better” than Collingwood and "should have smoked" the premiers in their Qualifying Final.
The Melbourne star made the bold claims at the club's awards night in October and was clearly annoyed about the loss to the eventual premiers. The Demons then lost to Carlton the following week to bow out of the AFL finals in straight sets for the second year in a row.
“I find it hilarious,” Cox told Fox Footy recently. “I don’t know how many drinks he had at that little celebration of not making it to the grand final but they lost to Carlton after losing to us, so I don’t know exactly what he’s getting at there.
“Melbourne’s had its media time over the last couple of months and you’ve definitely seen a few things over the time but they’re still going to be one of the best teams in the league next year and one you’ve always got to respect. They’ve always put up a big fight with us as you saw in the Queens Birthday game last year and they came close to beating us in that quarter final, they’re a good team and you’ve got respect them.
“Those type of comments are water off a ducks back really, people are always going to sit there and say they think they can beat the best and that’s just part of the experience I think. When it comes down to it, like Jordy (De Goey) said, we’re the ones with the medal on our neck so that’s the proof in the pudding."
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