GWS forward Brent Daniels has added to the public criticism of Mason Cox’s behaviour prior to Collingwood’s loss to the Giants, describing it as “bizarre”.
Cox invaded a GWS ruck drill prior to the clash at Engie (formerly Giants) Stadium and even stole a hit out from Giants ruck coach Shane Mumford in scenes that were captured by Channel 7 cameras.
Kane Cornes slammed the Magpies ruckman for failing to walk the walk given Cox’s disappointing performance on field despite his talk in the lead-up to the match, and Daniels had a similar message.
“I guess Mason likes to say things to get a bit of a headline,” Daniels said of Cox on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show,
“He likes the limelight but what he did before the game, I thought it was really bizarre, a bit of carry on I thought. I like to think we’re really humble and hungry as a team and to see that, it wasn’t a good look. If you want to do that you want to back it up on the field.
“We didn’t read too much into it. His comments, they grab media and that’s what he wants so we didn’t read into it too much.”
Daniels added: “I didn’t say it until after the game… I just thought it was a little bit bizarre and not sure what he was thinking to be honest.”
Daniels had 22 disposals and kicked four goals in the 32-point win, while Cox couldn’t influence the contest.
The Giants wheeled out the ‘Mason Cox petting zoo’ outside the ground in the hours before Saturday night’s game in response to Cox’s ‘showgrounds’ comment late last year.
In a grudge match that is now forming, the Giants have previously said they “hate” Collingwood, while former captain Phil Davis told SEN this week GWS still believed they were better than Collingwood after last year’s desperate one-point Preliminary Final loss.
The heated lead-in to the match got the desired result, attracting a crowd of 21,235 at Engie Stadium.
“It’s not big and I know a lot of the Melbourne clubs would look at that and go, ‘We get that every week’, but it was really special for us,” Daniels added of Saturday night’s atmosphere.
19,332 fans came to watch the Battle of the Bridge at Engie Stadium last year, with Saturday’s figure GWS’ biggest crowd at their home ground in more than five years.