Mason Cox reveals his side of post-match spat with Christian Petracca on King’s Birthday
Mason Cox has opened up on his side of a post-match spat with Christian Petracca at the end of the King’s Birthday blockbuster. See what both players had to say.
Mason Cox has opened up on his side of a post-match spat with Christian Petracca on King’s Birthday.
Melbourne delivered Collingwood its first defeat in two months in a narrow four-point encounter at the MCG, with the pair exchanging barbs as the two teams shook hands at the end of the game.
Petracca pointed and shook his head as he said something to Cox, who rebuked on several occasions and tried to walk towards the Norm Smith medallist but was held back by teammate Brayden Maynard.
Cox confirmed on Tuesday that Petracca has reached out to him in the aftermath of the exchange.
some interesting back n forth between Petracca and Cox after the siren.. #AFL#AFLDemonsPies#BigFreeze#BigFreeze9pic.twitter.com/WRVjoxjj97
— SuperCoach IQ (@SuperCoachIQ) June 12, 2023
“Words were shared,’’ Cox said on Tuesday morning on his podcast, The Mason Cox Show.
“I won’t go into it too much, we’ve had the conversation, Trac and I after this, and he apologised and shook my hand, heat of the moment and we move on.”
Cox added: “It was interesting, I didn’t really expect words to be shared at the end of the game but they were. It is what it is, I’m not really offended to be honest, he was just hyped up from the win as you do get. And we move on.”
Speaking after the game on Monday night, Petracca said there was “nothing at all” in the incident.
“It was fine. Just heat of the moment stuff. It was fine,” he said in the Demons’ rooms post-game.
“No, nothing (in any particular moment that sparked it).
“All good. It’s all good. It’s fine. What happens on the field, stays on the field.
“We’re fine. We’re fine.”
The match was likened to a final in its intensity and frenetic pace, with Collingwood making a late surge in the game to come within a goal with just 25 seconds remaining.
It was a much-needed result, Petracca said.
“We needed that win. That was awesome,” he said.
“Footy doesn’t owe you anything – you’ve got to work hard for it, and I thought the last couple of weeks we’ve had really great preparation going into the games and it was an amazing job.”
The Demons kicked 8.18 in victory, but Petracca said the four points mattered far more than the behind count.
“Expected score we were plus 40, and if we’d kicked our set shots, we would have probably cleared away there,” he said.
“We felt like we were building against Freo (in Round 11) – we obviously were a bit inaccurate there and we lost, and we had a great game against Carlton last week, probably scrappy but we felt like we played our brand.
“This week again, I felt like we were awesome and we really denied their strengths and really attacked off that.”
Fellow midfielder Clayton Oliver is expected to return after the bye after missing the King’s Birthday clash after he was hospitalized due to an infection from a blister.
“We’ve played 150 games together in our career, so it will be awesome to have him back,” Petracca said.
“Hopefully he’s resting up. I think he came today, which is good. I’m sure we’ll have him back post-bye.”
Petracca jetted straight to Noosa from the MCG on Monday for a break over the bye to “switch off for a few days, go to the beach, get my phone away and come back refreshed”.
‘UN-COLLINGWOOD’ PIES TURN COLD IN BIG FREEZE
- Scott Gullan
The narrative for 25 minutes of the final quarter was on Collingwood doing un-Collingwood things.
While Melbourne had played excellent pressure football in the second half and should have been further in front given their inaccurate set-shot kicking, when you’re the hottest team in the competition, if there is a cooling it stands out.
Nick Daicos is one of the favourites to win the Brownlow Medal while his older brother Josh is most people’s All-Australian wingman. They have set the bar so high in the opening 12 rounds that when it’s lowered slightly it becomes a thing.
Scott Pendlebury last made a mistake in 2015 so when his dinky little precision chip-kicks start repeatedly going to the opposition, it stands out.
The debate about the best centre half-forward in the game in the first half of the year has had Brody Mihocek at the top of the list for some so when he can’t get near it, it’s a thing.
When Brayden Maynard plays on at centre half-back and doesn’t see or hear Melbourne’s Joel Smith closing on him, something is up.
And then when John Noble plays on from a kick-in at full-back, runs 30m and forgets to take a bounce, you know something is not right.
BUT. And it deserves to be in capital letters.
This is a Collingwood team who are never dead which is an extraordinary trait Craig McRae has instilled in them.
In the final two minutes of play Mihocek and Nick Daicos sprung to life, both kicking goals which meant with 26 seconds Melbourne’s lead was suddenly only four points.
Given how many times they’ve been run over by the Pies in recent years, the Demons were wobbling all over the place.
And suddenly that un-Collingwood narrative was out of the window because Collingwood were back doing Collingwood things. They were about to win a game they should never have had a chance to.
As Melbourne fans held their breath for the final bounce of the game, a mass of bodies converged on the ball before fittingly it was cleared by the one player who’d stood out all day, Jack Viney.
He was easily the best player on the ground - 32 disposals, 19 contested possessions, 11 tackles, 9 clearances and a goal - in a match where there weren’t many others who stood out.
The Demons back six were back to their best - the inclusion of Christian Salem is so important - while Bayley Fritsch kicked 3.2 goals opposed to the best defender in the game, Magpies captain Darcy Moore.
St Kilda coach Ross Lyon called it the bye factor when his side, who’d had an incredible start to the season, lost to Hawthorn leading into their week off.
Often the more you win in this competition, the closer you are to a loss and the Pies have only been beaten once this year - back in Round 4 against Brisbane - so it’s fair to think they were starting to run out of petrol tickets.
For those diehard Melbourne historians they would have been across the timing of Brodie Grundy playing his first game against his old side in Collingwood.
It was 40 years ago that the Demons cheered on another former Magpie ruckman who had come into their fold.
Peter Moore was a Brownlow Medallist and former captain when he controversially moved over to the Demons. He won his second Brownlow Medal in his second season wearing the red and blue.
Grundy is unlikely to be doing that but he did play his part in an intriguing ruck match-up.
After fluffing his lines late in the first quarter, Grundy got to deliver the salute he’s probably been thinking about for nine months at the 22-minute mark of the third quarter.
He nailed a set-shot from 35m and immediately jumped in the air, raising both arms before looking over at the Collingwood cheer squad and giving them a hello.
The ruck duel had been an interesting sub-plot in the game with the Grundy-Max Gawn combination winning the hit-outs 47-25 against Mason Cox and Darcy Cameron.
All four had their moments but by far the best moment of the game came before the bounce of the ball when both teams lined up in a guard of honour for Neale Daniher.
While it may be the King’s Birthday, this day has become all about Daniher, his battle with MND and his extraordinary efforts to raise money to take on the disease he calls the beast.
It was hard not to get emotional in that moment where both teams forgot about the battle ahead as did the 83,578 inside the MCG who focussed their attention and admiration on one man.
Before he disappeared underneath the stadium Daniher hugged Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin and Gawn.
He would have liked what he saw over the next two hours as the team he used to coach showed a bit of ticker. That’s something he knows a thing or two about.
MATCH REPORT: DEMON DELIGHT
There was magic and mistakes and the sort of manic football pressure produces as Melbourne ended Collingwood’s winning streak with a thrilling finals-worthy victory at the MCG.
The Demons displayed their premiership credentials by taking down the ladder-leaders with only inaccuracy in front of goal preventing a victory bigger than the final four-point margin in a King’s Birthday slugfest.
Collingwood coach Craig McRae’s 120-minute men kept the contest alive with two goals inside the final two minutes, and had 26 seconds to steal a win.
But the Demons shut it down and it was Jack Viney who proved the perfect man for the final few contests between two teams who could find themselves in similar circumstances in September.
They threw punches and counter-punches at each other until before the Demons prevailed.
There were only 17 goals kicked despite the two teams sharing 109 inside 50s in a match Melbourne had to work its way into after conceding the opening three goals and ultimately seized control but couldn’t put away.
After winning nine games on the trot, Collingwood wobbled in the face of Melbourne’s unrelenting pressure, allowing the Demons to have a mammoth 16 set-shots at goal, but for only an eight goal return.
Viney turned up the contest heat in a powerhouse 10-possession third quarter as Melbourne got better return for their apparent control of the game kicking three goals to one.
Fittingly it was Bailey Fritsch who put the Demons in front for the first time when he seized on a ball over the back and slotted his third for the game with a snap from close to the boundary.
It was after two quarters and 11 minutes of toil and when Brodie Grundy kicked a goal against his old team, and thrust his arms into the air in celebration, the Demons were in front by 12 points and never gave the lead back despite the frenetic finish.
Post the final siren, Clayton Oliver had a training session on the MCG after crowds had departed the ground, and appeared to be unhampered after he was hospitalised just days ago.
BRODIE’S BIG DAY
Booing was almost demanded for Brodie Grundy when he floated to fullback and took a defensive mark as his first possession in his first game against his old club.
Grundy, squeezed out of Collingwood at the end of last season despite being under contract, was supposed to take the first bounce, but instead, surprisingly started on the bench.
His first possession sneaked up on Magpies who gave it to him, although, also knowing it was coming, the Demons fans did their best to out-boo the booers with cheers.
A number of supporters pointed out on social media that - as one wrote - Grundy “had wanted to stay a Pie, it was your club that got rid of him”.
Grundy revealed when he had been traded that he had “wanted to play 300 games for the Pies”, and that when he had signed his seven-year deal at the club, thought he was “going to be a Pie for life”.
Grundy was impactful throughout, kicked a crucial goal and laid a cracking tackle on former teammate, and fellow Brodie, Mihocek in the second to thwart a Collingwood attack.
Booing Grundy is SO embarrassing you literally got rid of him
— Jem 🖤 (@jem_o97) June 12, 2023
I find it absolutely bizarre that Grundy’s getting booed. Like as if he wanted to leave #AFLDeesPies
— Spiller’s SuperCoach (@SpillsSC) June 12, 2023
Collingwood fans booing Grundy, a bloke that didn’t want to leave and he was forced out! 🤦â€â™‚ï¸ #AFLDeesPies
— Drew Semmens (@drewie_5) June 12, 2023
UPBEAT MCRAE
Optimistic Collingwood coach Craig McRae is adamant his team’s best is yet to come with a quartet of players set to return for the ladder leaders after the bye which will be used to re-set for the run to the finals
Forwards Jamie Elliott, Dan McStay, who was set to play against in Monday’s loss to Melbourne before injuring his finger at training, Jack Ginnivan and possibly even defender Jeremy Howe could all be back to face Adelaide in Round 15.
McRae conceded his team didn’t cope with the rampant Melbourne pressure at the MCG in the four-point loss which ended an eight-game winning streak, and a run of three-straight wins against the Demons.
“They were the better team, they were much better in the key moments and the key contests
“But I walk away with optimism. I think our best is in front of us. Their pressure was really good to force us in to errors and we had to rise to that. We have to find another level. Against the best teams you are not always going to get what you want.
“We learned a few good lessons and we will continue to get better.”
McRae also said his men were too “safe” early in the final quarter before rushing home with two goals in the final two minutes to reduce the final margin to just four’ he said.
“I wanted us to be more like we were in the last five minutes,” he said.
“I’d rather lose by 10 goals, I really would, rather than die wondering I thought we were a bit too safe at times,” he said
McRae said the illness which swept through the club, and laid low both Daicos brothers Nick and Josh, had “zero” impact on the loss.
The Magpies coach also said captain Darcy Moore has a slight ankle sprain which limited him in the final quarter but he was unlikely to miss any football with 13 days until the next game.
McRae also revealed he addressed the issue of confronting former Magpie now Melbourne ruckman Brodie Grundy with his players by reminding them how important he’d been for Collingwood
“I put up a photo of him up,” he said.
“We all really care for Brodie, the men in the room have close relationships with him, he made a great contribution to the Collingwood football club.
“You make tough decisions, list management wise. We want him to play well and perform well, just not against us.”
TACKLE WORRY
Demon forward Joel Smith found himself slinging Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy that little bit too hard given the match review officer’s focus on penalising such tackles with suspensions.
Murphy was left shaken after his face hit the ground hard in the third term when Smith took him to the ground with the sort of spinning motion which can sometimes take control away from the tackler.
SCOREBOARD
COLLINGWOOD 3.1 5.4 6.5 9.8 (62)
MELBOURNE 1.4 3.8 6.11 8.18 (66)
GOALS
Collingwood: Lipinksi 2, Crisp, Harrison, Cox, Hill, Mihocek, N Daicos
Melbourne: Fritsch 3, Neale-Bullen 2, Viney, J Smith, Van Rooyen
BEST PLAYERS
Collingwood: Mitchell, Adams, Crisp, Quaynor
Melbourne: Viney, Gawn, Fritsch, May, Rivers
INJURIES
Collingwood: Moore (ankle)
Melbourne: None
CROWD: 83,578 at MCG
PLAYER OF THE YEAR
3 Jack Viney (Melb)
2 Tom Mitchell (Coll)
1 Max Gawn (Melb)
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