Dean Michael Cox (born 1 August 1981) is a former

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 and current assistant coach of the

Sydney Swans The Sydney Swans are a professional Australian rules football club based in Sydney, New South Wales. The men's team competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), and the women's team in the AFL Women's (AFLW). The Swans also field a reser ...

who played for the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known as the Victorian Football ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL). Originally from Dampier,

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, he debuted with in the

West Australian Football League The West Australian Football League (WAFL) is an Australian rules football league based in Perth, Western Australia. The league currently consists of ten teams, which play each other in a 20-round season usually lasting from March to September, ...

(WAFL) in 2000. After winning the

Simpson Medal The Simpson Medal is an individual prize awarded for Australian rules football in Western Australia. The medal has been donated by Dr Fred Simpson and family since 1945. Simpson Medals are currently awarded to the following players: *The best pla ...

as the best player in the grand final in his first season, Cox was recruited to West Coast with the 28th pick in the 2000 Rookie Draft. He made his senior debut during the 2001 season, and played in West Coast's 2006 premiership side. A ruckman, Cox was named in the

All-Australian team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perf ...

six times, including four seasons consecutively from 2005 to 2008, and was considered the outstanding player in his position throughout much of his career. He won West Coast's best and fairest award in 2008, and finished in the top three on four other occasions. Cox retired at the end of the 2014 season, finishing his career with 290 games, a club record, and 169 goals.

Early career

Cox was a naturally gifted sportsman who excelled at sports whilst growing up in Dampier, Western Australia. Played for Dampier Sharks. His uncle George Michalczyk, a former Australian rules player himself, recommended Cox to the club he began his senior career with,

East Perth East or Orient is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sunrise, Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from ...

. Cox played colts for East Perth in 1999 and at the end of the season was invited to train with the West Coast Eagles in their pre-season. He impressed enough for him to be rookie-listed, however he struggled in pre-season training and was criticised for being slightly uncoordinated. Meanwhile, he played senior football for East Perth. He began the season fifth in the order of an impressive list of ruckmen, but by season's end he had impressed so much he earned a place as the first ruckman in their grand final team and collected a

for his efforts. The Eagles then put him on their senior list and he made his AFL debut in 2001. Initially he showed few signs of his potential at that level. However, he was persisted with.

2005 season

He came of age during the

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

season, where he became a dominant player for the Eagles and is now considered one of their best. He topped the year off with a terrific

finals series Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, living up to his high standards. Two incidents stand out in particular for Cox – one where in the Qualifying Final against

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

he took two saving marks in defence to secure the game in the dying moments, where his team got home by less than a goal. The other moment that stands out had the Eagles on the other end, where in 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 ...

three weeks later, also against Sydney, he took a strong mark on the

half-forward line In the sport of Australian rules football, the half-forward line refers to a position on the field of play. 3 players are positioned in the half-forward line, a left and right half-forward flank player, as well as a centre half-forward. A hal ...

and speared the ball in towards a pack in the dying moments. Unfortunately for the Eagles,

Leo Barry Leo Barry (born 19 May 1977) is a retired Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL) with the Sydney Swans. Originally from Deniliquin, New South Wales, Barry attended Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview, before being d ...

took a saving mark and secured the Swans a victory by less than a goal.

2006 season

Cox got off to a superb start to the season and was one of the premier players in the competition early. He continued his good form and established himself as one of the league's premier ruckmen, averaging over 20 hitouts and almost 20 disposals per game through Round 8 of the 2006 Season. However, in Round 13 he collided with a hard bump from Bulldog Adam Cooney, which left him with a broken collar bone. Cox returned to the side, and was a key figure in the Eagles thrilling 1 point win of Sydney in the

2006 AFL Grand Final The 2006 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Sydney Swans and West Coast Eagles, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 30 September 2006. It was the 110th annual grand final of the Austral ...

, where he dominated against Sydney ruckman Stephen Doyle and Darren Jolly. Cox played 21 games in 2006, taking 141 marks and kicking 14 goals.

2007–2014

Cox played 21 games in 2007 and all 22 in 2008 as the club missed the finals, in what was a turbulent few years. The departure of Ben Cousins and Chris Judd (Carlton) and questions surrounding the clubs culture meant that Cox had to step up. Many thought he would be appointed Captain for 2008, but the position was awarded to Darren Glass. Cox made the All-Australian Team in both of these years, continuing to be the dominant ruckman of the competition despite playing in a struggling side (mostly in 2008). He also did no harm to his reputation as a ruckman/midfielder, collecting 25 disposals or more 5 times in 2007, and 7 times in 2008, and regularly featuring among the best. Standout games included the Semi-Final against Collingwood in 2007 that went to extra time (which West Coast lost), where Cox collected 27 disposals, 9 marks, 29 hitouts and a goal. In Round 10 of 2008 against Collingwood, again an Eagles loss, Cox gathered 30 disposals, 7 marks, 36 hitouts and kicked two goals. Cox finished his career with 6,628 hitouts, an AFL record at the time of his retirement.

Playing style

Dean Cox was a very versatile ruckman, who tends to cover much ground. Sometimes considered to be the Eagles 'fifth

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

', Cox is a modern example of a mobile ruckman. He effectively wins knock-outs and can assist the likes of midfielders

Daniel Kerr Daniel Alan Kerr (born 16 May 1983) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played 220 games for the club between 2001 and 2013, as a hard-running inside midfield ...

, Matthew Priddis and

Matt Rosa Matthew Rosa (born 23 November 1986) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Gold Coast Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Originally from Warracknabeal and later Ballarat, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, ...

. Cox was widely considered as the premier ruckman of the competition, as seen by his selection in six

Statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, , 20 , , 17 , , 2 , , 2 , , 62 , , 69 , , 131 , , 38 , , 18 , , 184 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 3.6 , , 4.1 , , 7.7 , , 2.2 , , 1.1 , , 10.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, , 20 , , 19 , , 7 , , 1 , , 96 , , 97 , , 193 , , 82 , , 17 , , 307 , , 0.4 , , 0.1 , , 5.1 , , 5.1 , , 10.2 , , 4.3 , , 0.9 , , 16.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, , 20 , , 19 , , 10 , , 3 , , 125 , , 88 , , 213 , , 74 , , 12 , , 332 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 6.6 , , 4.6 , , 11.2 , , 3.9 , , 0.6 , , 17.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, , 20 , , 23 , , 5 , , 10 , , 172 , , 142 , , 314 , , 117 , , 37 , , 512 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 7.5 , , 6.2 , , 13.7 , , 5.1 , , 1.6 , , 22.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, , 20 , , 25 , , 22 , , 3 , , 257 , , 152 , , 409 , , 163 , , 29 , , 595 , , 0.9 , , 0.1 , , 10.3 , , 6.1 , , 16.4 , , 6.5 , , 1.2 , , 23.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, , 20 , , 21 , , 14 , , 9 , , 233 , , 146 , , 379 , , 141 , , 27 , , 449 , , 0.7 , , 0.4 , , 11.1 , , 7.0 , , 18.0 , , 6.7 , , 1.3 , , 21.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, , 20 , , 21 , , 13 , , 9 , , 234 , , 163 , , 397 , , 155 , , 23 , , 449 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 11.1 , , 7.8 , , 18.9 , , 7.4 , , 1.1 , , 21.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , 20 , , 22 , , 9 , , 10 , , 233 , , 253 , , 486 , , 126 , , 34 , , 571 , , 0.4 , , 0.5 , , 10.6 , , 11.5 , , 22.1 , , 5.7 , , 1.5 , , 26.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, , 20 , , 13 , , 8 , , 7 , , 139 , , 145 , , 284 , , 75 , , 23 , , 346 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 11.2 , , 10.7 , , 21.8 , , 5.8 , , 1.8 , , 26.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, , 20 , , 22 , , 10 , , 9 , , 178 , , 194 , , 372 , , 91 , , 37 , , 502 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 8.1 , , 8.8 , , 16.9 , , 4.1 , , 1.7 , , 22.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, , 20 , , 25 , , 20 , , 17 , , 270 , , 176 , , 446 , , 137 , , 43 , , 716 , , 0.8 , , 0.7, , 10.8 , , 7.0 , , 17.8 , , 5.5 , , 1.7 , , 28.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, , 20 , , 24 , , 28 , , 14 , , 238 , , 147 , , 385 , , 144 , , 39 , , 628 , , 1.2 , , 0.6 , , 9.9 , , 6.1 , , 16.0 , , 6.0 , , 1.6 , , 26.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, , 20 , , 22 , , 13 , , 18 , , 209 , , 140 , , 349 , , 118 , , 52 , , 597 , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 9.5 , , 6.4 , , 15.9 , , 5.4 , , 2.4 , , 27.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, , 20 , , 17 , , 8 , , 6 , , 142 , , 103 , , 245 , , 80 , , 39 , , 405 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 8.4 , , 6.1 , , 14.4 , , 4.7 , , 2.3 , , 23.8 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 290 ! 169 ! 118 ! 2588 ! 2015 ! 4603 ! 1541 ! 430 ! 6628 ! 0.6 ! 0.4 ! 8.9 ! 7.0 ! 15.9 ! 5.3 ! 1.5 ! 22.9

Personal life

Cox married Kerry Lavell at a ceremony at

Leeuwin Estate Leeuwin Estate is an Australian winery and restaurant based in the Margaret River wine region of Western Australia. History Leeuwin Estate was established in 1973 by Denis and Tricia Horgan. The land was previously used as a cattle station a ...

Margaret River The Margaret River is a river in southwest Western Australia. In a small catchment, it is the eponym of the town and tourist region of Margaret River. The river arises from a catchment of just 40 square kilometres in the Whicher Range. The ...

in December 2011, having dated her for three years previously. Outside of football, Cox co-owns a seafood restaurant, ''Beluga'', in Claremont, with

Andrew Embley Andrew Embley (born 27 June 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is known for winning the Norm Smith Medal as the best player in the 2006 AFL Grand Final ...

, which opened in April 2011. In December 2012, Cox and his wife Kerry welcomed their first child, a girl Charlotte Ivy.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Dean 1981 births All-Australians (AFL) Australian rules footballers from Western Australia East Perth Football Club players Living people People from Dampier, Western Australia John Worsfold Medal winners West Coast Eagles players West Coast Eagles Premiership players Australian people of Polish descent West Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees One-time VFL/AFL Premiership players