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Mason Cox “absolutely shaping” for shock finals recall
SEN • September 2nd, 2025 5:24 pm
Collingwood could be set to make a bold selection call for their Qualifying Final against Adelaide this Thursday night with Mason Cox firming as an inclusion.
7AFL’s Xander McGuire initially broke the story on X, stating that Cox is shaping to replace Dan McStay who has been playing in recent weeks with shoulder soreness.
McGuire followed up his initial report by confirming that Collingwood’s match committee was set to decide on their team on Tuesday afternoon.
“There are big movements down at Collingwood match committee right now as we speak,” McGuire told SEN Afternoons.
“They'll make the final call on that, but Cox is absolutely shaping to replace Dan McStay in that side, which is a big story heading into Thursday night.
“The feeling is that Dan McStay is dealing with a bit of shoulder soreness, and they've been assessing that through the week as to whether he'll be able to get up.”
As well as McStay carrying some soreness, McGuire thinks a move could also occur for a simple swap at selection given Cox has been performing strongly in the VFL averaging one goal, 14.33 disposals, 29.67 hitouts and and six marks across his last three games.
McStay has also kicked only three goals from his last seven games.
“The other element to this, of course, is that he hasn't kicked multiple goals since the 4th of July Dan McStay,” McGuire said.
“So, it's coming up on two months exactly by the time they get to Thursday.
“So, he's been a bit out of form and Cox, on the other hand, he's been the number one rated player in the VFL the last two weeks, and I think in the top three for the last four weeks.
“The feeling is that he adds maybe a bit of an X-factor to that forward line, which they may have been missing without Bobby Hill down there. He just adds a bit of something different.
“Again, they're getting through the final elements of that as we speak, but that's something that I can tell you they've been planning to make.”
Collingwood will finalise their side ahead of their trip to Adelaide when teams are released for Thursday’s Qualifying Final at 6:20 pm AEST on Wednesday.
