Controversial act as Crow rips off Mason Cox’s glasses in middle of brawl

Tensions between Collingwood and Adelaide boiled over at the MCG on Sunday with one Crows player doing the unthinkable.

Mason Cox had his prescription glasses ripped off his head at the MCG.

Collingwood big man Mason Cox has had his $3000+ glasses ripped off his head as his side’s clash with Adelaide turned spiteful at the MCG.

With the Magpies trailing by 13 points early in the final term, Cox sparked his side with two goals in the space of three minutes.

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But it was his second goal that set off both sides – as melees broke out in the Magpies’ front half.

After being awarded a holding free kick against Josh Worrell, Cox went back and slotted his second before pointing to the goals and bumping the Crow on the mark.

It sparked an immediate backlash with Ben Keays running in and ripping the prescription eyewear from Cox’s head.

Cox brings it back to a one point game and lets the Crows know about it 👊

It's on at the MCG!

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“The first thing that went by the wayside were his specks! They went flying!” Fox Footy’s Garry Lyon said.

“The glasses are gone.”

Commentator Nathan Buckley said it was clear the Magpies ruck was “feeling it” after the goal before Keays launched himself.

“Ben Keays grabbed them from the back!” he said.

“Never hit a guy with glasses – is that something you learn as a kid?”

Anthony Hudson said Cox would not be “popular” in Adelaide after the scuffle which saw at least a dozen players from both sides fly in.

“He’s done it for a reason to try and grab a free kick from the centre bounce,” Lyon said of Cox’s antics.

“If he gets one, he’s had a win, if he hasn’t he’s got the blood pressure up for everyone else.”

Ben Keays removes the glasses of Mason Cox. Picture: Michael Willson

The moment worked in Collingwood’s favour as they went on to claim a thrilling two-point victory.

Cox has only been wearing the prescription glasses, estimated to cost between $3000 and $4000 a pair, since the start of 2022 after a tough run with career-threatening eye injuries.

He’s undergone six different surgeries – three on his left eye, two on his right, plus cataract surgery in the past four years as a result.

Back-to-back surgeries left Cox practically legally blind for a short period in 2019, where he had to spend two weeks in a dark room positioned on his back for 45 minutes of every hour, unable to move, watch TV or use his phone.

Originally published as Controversial act as Crow rips off Mason Cox’s glasses in middle of brawl