Dayna Cox (born 12 August 1993) is a retired

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er, who played for the

Adelaide Football Club The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) since ...

in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

competition. A small defender, she made her debut in the AFLW in 2017 and played every match for the season. She was part of Adelaide's premiership team, winning the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

Career

Cox played football for

Morphettville Park Football Club The Morphettville Park Football Club is a sports club first formed in 1958 and initial games were against sides who had forfeits or byes. The club is mostly known for their Australian rules football team, which joined the Glenelg-South-West Dist ...

in the

South Australian Women's Football League The South Australian Women's Football League (SAWFL) was the governing body and top level of women's Australian rules football in the state of South Australia from 1991-2016. In 2017, the SAWFL merged with the South Australian Amateur Football L ...

. During her early career she faced injury setbacks, but she became one of the best players in the state and played several exhibition matches representing South Australia in 2016. After missing out on selection in the

2016 AFL Women's draft The 2016 AFL Women's draft consisted of the various periods when the eight clubs in the AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football league for w ...

, she was signed by the

Adelaide Crows The Adelaide Crows (officially the Adelaide Football Club) are a professional Australian rules football team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Founded in 1990. The Crows has fielded a men's team in the Australian Football League (AFL) sinc ...

as a free agent to become the final member of their inaugural squad in October 2016. Cox made her

AFLW AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

debut in the thirty-six point win against at

Thebarton Oval Thebarton Oval is a sports ground in Adelaide, South Australia currently used for a variety of sports including Australian rules football. It was the home ground of South Australian National Football League (SANFL) club West Torrens Football Clu ...

in the opening round of the 2017 season. In the seventh and final round of the regular season, she was charged with striking Collingwood player Alicia Eva, putting her in jeopardy of playing in the

the following week. The Match Review Panel judged the contact to be low impact, so with an early guilty plea she was given a reprimand and allowed to play. She was a part of Adelaide's premiership side when the club defeated by six points at

Metricon Stadium Carrara Stadium (known commercially as Metricon Stadium) is a stadium on the Gold Coast in Queensland, Australia, located in the suburb of Carrara. The stadium is primarily used for Australian rules football, serving as the home ground of th ...

. She played every match in her debut season to finish with eight matches. Adelaide signed Cox for the 2018 season during the trade period in May 2017. During the Crows' round three match against the , Cox was reported twice for striking, receiving a reprimand for the first incident and a one-match suspension for the second. In June 2022, the Crows announced that Cox would be placed on the Club's inactive list for

AFL Women's season seven AFL Women's season seven was the seventh season of the AFL Women's competition, the highest-level senior Women's Australian rules football, women's Australian rules football competition in Australia. The season began on 25 August and ran until ...

commencing in August 2022, due to her work commitments with the

South Australia Police South Australia Police (SAPOL) is the police force of the Australian state of South Australia. SAPOL is an independent statutory agency of the Government of South Australia directed by the Commissioner of Police, who reports to the Minister for ...

. In February 2023, Cox announced her retirement.

Player profile

Cox is a small defender who plays on half-back, both tagging a forward and providing an avenue out of defence. Upon signing her in 2016, coach

Bec Goddard Rebecca 'Bec' Goddard is an Australian rules football coach currently serving as the head coach of the Hawthorn Football Club (AFL Women's), Hawthorn Football Club in the AFL Women's competition (AFLW). Goddard also previously coached Adelaide ...

said, “She is a fantastic chase down tackler and she also loves to push forward from half-back to kick a goal."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Dayna 1993 births Living people Adelaide Football Club (AFLW) players Australian rules footballers from South Australia