Get to know Carlton’s newest cult hero — Round 16 matchwinner Matthew Cottrell

With a celebration inspired by ‘The Greek Freak’, Matthew Cottrell provided a moment for Blues fans to savour on Tuesday. Here’s eight facts you might not know about Carlton’s new cult hero.

Lauren Wood

@LaurenHeraldSun

9 min read

September 9, 2020 - 12:38PM

NCA NewsWire

AFL

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He sealed the game for Carlton and kept the Blues’ mathematical chance of making the eight alive.

So just who is “funny bugger” Matthew Cottrell?

Picked up in the supplementary selection period in February, it turns out he’s quite the character at Ikon Park with the much-loved flame-haired figure incredibly popular with his teammates.

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Cottrell is congratulated by teammates after his goal guaranteed the win.

THE MOTH

According to former Pie and Blues forward Dale Thomas, Cottrell bears one of the great nicknames – self-imposed or otherwise.

Thomas revealed after the matchwinning moment that Cottrell “calls himself The Moth as he loves the bright lights”.

“Big time play,” Thomas tweeted.

“I guarantee you will hear or see Cotters declare he has ice in his veins. The moth goes bang.”

BLEEDS BLUE

A Blues supporter from way back, a snap from years ago resurfaced this year of Cottrell with none other than Carlton star Eddie Betts.

Taken in Betts’ first stint at the club, a young Cottrell must have been no older than 14 as he gripped his pen and Sherrin for an autograph. Chris Judd was also another favourite in navy blue.

How life brings you full circle, hey.

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES

It is NBA playoff season, and it was one of the competition’s biggest names that provided the inspiration for Cottrell’s epic goal celebration.

Asked about his celebration, Cottrell admitted there were shades of Milwaukee Buck Giannis Antetoukounmpo in his muscle-flexing salute.

“A bit of Greek freak about that one, I don’t know!,” Cottrell exclaimed on Fox Footy.

“That was unreal.

“Probably wasn’t going my way the whole game but saw the opportunity to fly for a mark and luckily I put it through.”

Former Blue Dylan Buckley said he loved “nothing more than a good celebrator” and that Cottrell had filled his shoes.

“Feel like Cotrell has filled that role of excessive celebrations well,” he tweeted.

“Pretty sure my shoulder fell out last night when rolling over so I’m pretty happy tweeting about it and critiquing from the couch on things I couldn’t do myself. Now I know why so many people do it. “

Cottrell, what an absolute mad dog ðŸ˜‚ Love it ðŸ‘ðŸ» pic.twitter.com/xPAVMdvubj
— Brayden Cocks (@brayden_cocks) September 8, 2020

Matt Cottrell channelled NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo with his goal celebration.

Giannis Antetokounmpo drains a basket during the NBA playoffs.

FAIR PEDIGREE

Cottrell is the grandson of former Carlton player Len Cottrell. Len wore number 32 for the Blues, and played 12 games and kicked two goals across the 1958 and 1959 seasons.

HARD WORK PAYS

Cottrell overcame being overlooked in the 2018 draft to not give up on his dream, and didn’t it pay off for the “extrovert”, whose story didn’t go unrecognised by coach David Teague.

“He just played instinctive footy,” Teague said after the win.

“The ball was there and he flew for it.

“He does have confidence and he’s got good skills.

“I actually have to admit I felt pretty comfortable with him taking the shot and I think he struck it pretty well.”

It hadn’t been “the best day for us” but that didn’t matter in the dying minutes.

“What you need to do is stay in the moment,” Teague said.

“He stayed in the moment and it’s a great lesson for all our players.”

Matthew Cottrell is regarded as the best athlete on Carlton’s list.

PACE TO BURN

Move over, Ed Curnow. The Blues midfielder had long-held a record that is held in high regard at footy clubs in pre-season – the pre-season time trial title. Overlooked in the 2018 draft, Cottrell was permitted to train with the Blues over the 2019 pre-season and came in with a bang, outlasting Curnow in the time trial to make his presence felt. He was signed just a few weeks later in the pre-season supplementary selection period.

PERSONALITY PLUS

The Pearcedale Football Club product – who also played for the Dandenong Stingrays in the TAC Cup – is “a character”, according to his co-skipper Patrick Cripps.

And he can always be counted on to lift the mood of the group and bring a spark.

“I think his celebration was better than his mark,” Cripps said on Fox Footy.

“He’s a funny bugger. He brings a lot of energy to our group. I love his story. He was in the pre-season draft, the supplementary draft, and he has got one of the best engines I have seen.”

PRACTICE MADE PERFECT

Cripps’ fellow co-captain Sam Docherty revealed post-game that the sealing win may have been thanks to a bit of healthy competition among the team that had seen Cottrell excel.

In the team’s Queensland hub, goalkicking competitions have been a mainstay and Cottrell reaped the benefits.

“I actually walked up to him and gave him some words of wisdom,” Docherty said on ABC radio.

“We’ve been having a kick around at training and he’s been killing it in those little competitions. It was the difference for us in the end.”

MATCH REPORT: BLUES’ FAINT FINALS HOPES ALIVE AFTER THRILLER

— Laine Clark and Ben Horne

Suddenly, Carlton has a new cult hero after red-haired extrovert Matt Cottrell stole the show to seal a come from behind five-point AFL win over Sydney and keep the Blues’ faint finals hopes alive.

Cottrell, 20, had largely gone unnoticed in just his fifth AFL game as the Swans flew to a 39 point lead by the second term at Metricon Stadium on Tuesday night.

But by full-time he was the name on everyone’s lips after backing up a stunning contested mark to nail his set shot and kick the matchwinner in the dying minutes.

His celebration was pretty good, too.

Cottrell’s head looked like it may detonate as he flexed and screamed in jubilation, later admitting he was channelling the “Greek Freak”, NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Carlton coach David Teague looked like he needed a lie down after the intense clash but raised a smile when Cottrell was mentioned.

“Oh, he’s an extrovert,” Teague said of Cottrell, who only had nine touches for the game.

“He played instinctive footy. He saw an opportunity and he jumped at it, that’s we want from our players.

“He’s a beautiful kick but to be honest the mark was probably the most impressive bit.

“He didn’t have his best day for us but he stayed in the moment. It’s a great lesson for all our players.”

Matthew Cottrell flies for the late mark.

The young Blue kicks the crucial goal.

Blues captain Patrick Cripps was inspirational with 17 possessions, 10 contested touches, five clearances and a second term goal that sparked their comeback.

But he only had praise for Dandenong Stingrays product Cottrell post-match.

“He’s a character as you can see from the celebration. I think his celebration was better than his mark in the end,” Cripps told Fox Footy.

“You have to know him, he’s a funny bugger, he brings a lot of energy to our group.

“I just love his story, he was in the pre-season draft, he’s worked hard, he’s got one of the best engines I’ve seen. “For him to stand up and have that composure at the end was super.”

Remarkably the Blues conceded the first seven goals of the match before mowing down Sydney.

Captain courageous Patrick Cripps was instrumental in the Carlton fightback.

They were still kept honest until the end, dodging a bullet when Swan Lewis Taylor sprayed a final minute shot that would have locked up the scores after benefiting from a dubious high tackle call on Cripps.

It ensured Carlton (7-8 record) are one win outside the top eight with two games remaining thanks to shock losses to Melbourne and Greater Western Sydney.

Carlton will still need a minor miracle to play their first finals campaign since 2013.

They must defeat Adelaide and Brisbane and rely on other results to go their way to scrape in.

Asked about their finals chances, Teague said: “That’s where we are going as a footy club, we are going to the finals at some stage.

“But right now it is about addressing our areas of growth. I think our inside 50m connection needs to improve.

“(But) it was good to get the win. Our boys showed resilience.”

IMPOSSIBLE DREAM? BLUES STILL WITHIN REACH

Where there’s life, there’s hope.

Carlton would be forgiven for adopting it as their mantra after keeping their AFL finals hopes alive — albeit mathematically — with a come from behind five-point win over Sydney on Tuesday night.

The Blues (7-8 record) came from 39 points down to snap a two-game losing run and overrun the Swans 8.9 (57) to 8.4 (52).

Carlton’s Matthew Cottrell is pumped after kicking the winning goal in the dying minutes.

It means Carlton is still in the running for an unlikely finals appearance, spurred on by the Crows’ shock victory over the Giants on Tuesday.

Should the Blues beat the Crows in their next match, and then upset the high-flying Brisbane Lions, they would need the Western Bulldogs to lose one match to either the Hawks or the Dockers, then hope that Melbourne beats GWS, Essendon in turn defeats Melbourne, and the Saints then send the Giants packing in the final round.

Sydney’s Lewis Taylor had a chance to level the scores in the final minute from a free kick off a dubious high tackle call on Patrick Cripps but sprayed the shot as the Blues celebrated.

Carlton are now one win outside the top eight with two matches remaining.

The Blues may have left their finals push late but there were finally encouraging signs as they defied slippery conditions and, at times, watertight Swans defence to topple their bogey side.

The Blues notched just their third victory in 13 games against the Swans.

It was stirring stuff but the Blues may still need a miracle to end a seven-year finals drought ahead of their last two games against dead last Adelaide and top three outfit Brisbane.

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WHAT A COMEBACK

Remarkably Sydney kicked the first seven goals with their back six standing tall led by former forward Tom McCartin as the Swans flew to a 39-point lead in the second term.

Carlton looked like they couldn’t buy a major early as they peppered the goalsquare only to be kept goalless until midway in the second quarter.

Sydney’s early defensive desperation was summed up by Aliir Aliir when his diving effort in the first term denied Carlton an opening major by Marc Murphy, with the score review ruling the Swans defender had touched the Sherrin on the line.

But the heavens opened in the second term at Metricon Stadium — and so did the floodgates for the Blues.

Inspired by captain Cripps, the Blues finally registered their first major before booting eight of the next nine goals as alarm bells rang for Sydney.

Carlton cut the deficit to 16 points by halftime and trailed by one kick at the final break as Levi Casboult stood tall in the forward line.

The Blues locked up the scores at 51-all when Harry McKay kicked truly in the first minute of the final term then incredibly scores remained levelled for 18 minutes before Cottrell stood tall.

Cottrell takes a crucial mark before going back and kicking the winner.

CARLTON END THEIR SECOND HALF FADEOUTS

It may have been heart attack stuff for coach David Teague but at least Carlton finally ended their frustrating run of second half fade-outs against the Swans.

Carlton had blown big opportunities to push their top eight cause in their last two games, leading at three quarter-time against arch rivals Collingwood and Greater Western Sydney only to be convincingly overrun in both.

They managed only four second half points against the Magpies and kicked a paltry 1.6 against the Giants after leading GWS by 15 points at the final break.

Despite their improvement this season the Blues’ goal kicking firepower still had a question mark hanging over it after being held goalless in four of their past six quarters.

Although armed with a huge height advantage inside 50m over sides, Carlton limped into their Sydney clash with only two wins from their last six games including a Jack Newnes after-the-siren miracle goal against Fremantle.

But they ended their worrying trend in spectacular fashion by breaking the Swans hearts on Tuesday night.

Lewis Taylor is on the receiving end of a huge Patrick Cripps tackle.

CRIPPS FINALLY GETS SOME HELP

There may be no rest in sight for Blues skipper Patrick Cripps.

But there may be some respite after Carlton finally offered their battered captain some assistance on the Gold Coast.

Teague ruled out resting the All-Australian any time soon in the final stretch of games despite their influential leader clearly being hampered last round by a cork and lingering knee issues.

Instead Teague asked his side to rally around their chief ball winner with their slim finals hopes still flickering despite the season appearing to be taking its toll on Cripps following an uncharacteristically quiet last round display against GWS.

Cripps again started quietly against the Swans, with one touch in the first term.

Yet he came alive in the second, kicking an inspiring goal as he proved the difference to finish with 17 possessions, 10 contested touches and five clearances.