Nikolas Cox (born 15 January 2002) is an

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 plays for the

Essendon Bombers The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers, is a professional Australian rules football club. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCracken family in their A ...

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). He was recruited by Essendon with the 8th draft pick in the

2020 AFL draft The 2020 AFL draft consisted of the various periods where the 18 clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL) could trade and recruit players following the completion of the 2020 AFL season. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Natio ...

. He is the son of former VFL player Darryl Cox.

Early football

Cox played football for the

Montmorency Football Club Montmorency Football Club is an Australian rules football club in Montmorency, Victoria, currently competing in Division 1 in the Northern Football League. History The club was formed in 1924 by Harold Hodgson and was original based at Memorial ...

in the

Northern Football Netball League The Northern Football Netball League (formerly known as the Diamond Valley Football League and later Northern Football League) is an Australian sports league based in the Diamond Valley region of suburban Melbourne, Victoria. The league regul ...

. He also played for his school Ivanhoe Grammar in the AGSV school competition. He began playing for the

Northern Knights The Northern Knights is an Australian rules football club playing in the NAB League, the top statewide under-18 competition in Victoria, Australia. They are based in Preston, representing the northern suburban area of Melbourne. The Knights a ...

in 2019, and had his 2020 season cancelled due to the impact of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

. During his 2019 season with the Knights, he kicked 9 goals from 10 games, and averaged 12.5 disposals and 4.9 marks a game. Cox represented Vic Metro in the

2019 AFL Under 18 Championships The 2019 NAB AFL Under-18 Championships was the 24th edition of the AFL Under-18 Championships. The tournament was played between five teams— Allies, South Australia, Vic Country, Vic Metro and Western Australia—playing each other acros ...

. He began training with in late 2019 and early 2020 as part of the NAB AFL Academy.

AFL career

Cox debuted in the opening round of the

2020 AFL season The 2020 AFL season was the 124th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season feature ...

, in 's 1 point loss to . On debut, Cox collected 9 disposals, 3 marks and 1 tackle. He was reported for striking Hawthorn player Oliver Hanrahan, and fined $2000. Cox obtained a Rising Star nomination in round 12 of the season, after he collected 23 disposals and kicked a goal. After missing a significant amount of football due to injury across 2022 and 2023, Cox played his first game in over 14 months in Round 19 of the

2023 AFL Season The 2023 AFL season is the 127th season of the Australian Football League (AFL), the highest level senior men's Australian rules football competition in Australia, which was known as the Victorian Football League until 1989. The season will fea ...

. He went on to play in all of the final 6 games of Essendon's season.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of 2023'' , - ,

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2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

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2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

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Personal life

Cox supported the in his youth. He cited his favourite player from Essendon to watch as

Alwyn Davey Alwyn Davey, Jr. (born 15 May 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Essendon Football Club of the Australian Football League (AFL) between 2007 and 2013. Early life Davey is of Indigenous Australian descent with trib ...

. Cox attended

Ivanhoe Grammar School , motto_translation = Faithful even unto death . , established = 1915 , type = Independent, co-educational , denomination = Anglican , slogan = Courageous and Kind . , ...

. Cox has 2 sisters, Alexandra (Ally) and Montana. His sister,

Montana Cox Montana Cox (born 2 September 1993) is an Australian model, best known for being the winner of cycle 7 of ''Australia's Next Top Model''. ''Australia's Next Top Model'' Cox was announced the winner of ''Australia's Next Top Model'', Cycle 7 ...

is a fashion model and a past winner of the

Australia's Next Top Model ''Australia's Next Top Model'' is an Australian reality television series which premiered on 11 January 2005 and concluded on 22 November 2016, and was based on Tyra Banks' ''America's Next Top Model''. It was broadcast on the Australian subscr ...

reality television show. He grew up in the

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

suburb of

Lower Plenty Lower Plenty is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, 16 km north-east from Melbourne's Melbourne City Centre, Central Business District, located within the City of Banyule Local Government Areas of Victoria, loc ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cox, Nikolas 2002 births Living people Essendon Football Club players Northern Knights players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) People educated at Ivanhoe Grammar School