Aussies: Ever Heard of This Guy?

[Tharmas]

The local sports news is pretty mindless these days, with no actual sports to report. So sports reporters search out human interest stories. One such was reported last night on a local channel. The reporter tracked down a young man from this neck of the woods who emigrated to Australia and plays Australian Rules Football. I'd never heard of him, but I did follow ARF for a while back 30 years ago when they were showing some of the games on American broadcast TV. So, his name is Mason Cox, supposedly the only American playing ARF. Ever heard of him? Is he any good?

The human interest angle the reporter took was that he can't come home because that means a two week quarantine, followed by another two weeks when he returns to Australia. Apparently he loves living in the land down under. He has picked up many Australianisms in his speech and accent. Seemed like a nice bloke, from what one could tell in the interview.

 

[bilby]

The local sports news is pretty mindless these days, with no actual sports to report. So sports reporters search out human interest stories. One such was reported last night on a local channel. The reporter tracked down a young man from this neck of the woods who emigrated to Australia and plays Australian Rules Football. I'd never heard of him, but I did follow ARF for a while back 30 years ago when they were showing some of the games on American broadcast TV. So, his name is Mason Cox, supposedly the only American playing ARF. Ever heard of him? Is he any good?

The human interest angle the reporter took was that he can't come home because that means a two week quarantine, followed by another two weeks when he returns to Australia. Apparently he loves living in the land down under. He has picked up many Australianisms in his speech and accent. Seemed like a nice bloke, from what one could tell in the interview.

I haven't heard of him, but I am a Queenslander, so AFL isn't much of a thing for me. It's basically a Melbourne based sport; It's made good inroads into the culture of WA, SA, and the NT, but NSW and QLD are far more focused on Rugby League. It doesn't help that as a native of Yorkshire, I grew up with Rugby League (but not AFL) before moving to Queensland.

In fact, if rumours are true, it's possible that AFL is better known in the USA than in NSW and QLD.

 

[bigfield]

Yes, I have definitely heard of Mason Cox, and so has every other Aussie rules fan.

He had a big game in a preliminary final in 2018, when he played like a guy who grew up with the sport: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtJxp9jWCTs

Here's a sampling of some the hype surrounding big Cox: https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=mason cox

It's basically a Melbourne based sport; It's made good inroads into the culture of WA, SA, and the NT

It's deeply-ingrained into the culture of South Australia, I can tell you that for certain, and I'm fairly confident the same is true of WA and the NT.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barassi_Line

 

[bilby]

Yes, I have definitely heard of Mason Cox, and so has every other Aussie rules fan.

He had a big game in a preliminary final in 2018, when he played like a guy who grew up with the sport: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtJxp9jWCTs

Here's a sampling of some the hype surrounding big Cox: https://www.reddit.com/search/?q=mason cox

It's basically a Melbourne based sport; It's made good inroads into the culture of WA, SA, and the NT

It's deeply-ingrained into the culture of South Australia, I can tell you that for certain, and I'm fairly confident the same is true of WA and the NT.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barassi_Line

Sure; But land doesn't play football. The population of SA, WA and (particularly) the NT is tiny.

 

[Tharmas]

Thanks for the updates. I wouldn't have guessed that the sport was regional. All our sports, American football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and including soccer, are quite national. Even the desert southwest boasts of professional hockey teams.