The fascinating story of how American, Mason Cox, became an elite Australian Rules player for a top club in Melbourne, Australia having never heard of the sport until he was invited by the AFL to try out for the game.
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Mason Cox was born in Texas, and played basketball at Oklahoma State University where he graduated in 2014. Later that year he was invited to attend the US AFL Combine where he impressed the scouts with his athleticism and skills. Soon after Cox took the massive step of relocating to Australia to play AFL, although he had never played the game.
In Mason Cox: This Strange Game he tells the story of how he came to sign with the Collingwood Football Club and how this was the beginning of his whirlwind AFL career down under. Representing Collingwood, Mason made his AFL debut in the AFL's biggest home and away fixture, ANZAC Day. In front of 90,000 people, Mason took a mark in the first two minutes of the game and kicked a goal with his first kick. The new senior Collingwood coach, Craig McRae, who had helped Cox when he first arrived in Australia, backed Mason for the ruck and kept him under contract at Collingwood. Before long Mason was a key player in Collingwood's Premiership campaign that won them the 2023 AFL Grand Final.
Mason's tells his story with humour and candour: how he learnt to play AFL; dealing with a near career-ending injury; living half a world away from family; and playing AFL at a top club in a country obsessed with the game.
