Michael Walters: Why Fremantle Dockers should pick Mason Cox for western derby against West Coast

Fremantle has a decision to make this week around how they cover Sean Darcy, who was concussed in Friday’s win over Collingwood. And the big call comes in derby week, one of the biggest matches on their calendar. Lots of people are calling for Luke Jackson to ruck by himself. He was excellent in the second half on Friday after Darcy went down and he is already leading the ruck division. But while that’s an option, I think Fremantle have to pick Mason Cox to make his debut in the derby on Sunday. One thing that gets forgotten is the toll that rucking solo every week has on the body. Particularly with the amount of ground that Jackson covers and his commitment to throwing his weight around at ground level and in his follow-up work, it can be a seriously tough shift. Jackson is a star and one of Fremantle’s most valuable assets. It’s also a long season ahead and they need to look after him. There’s no point running him into the ground in early matches rucking by himself when they absolutely are going to need him playing at his best in big games at the back end of this season. It’s important to protect him and give him a chop-out during the year so he’s not sore and injured later on. And particularly when there’s such a good replacement waiting there. I love that the Dockers went and picked up Cox in the off-season. Cox was a premiership player just three seasons ago and while he was in and out of the side at Collingwood in his last couple of years there, it’s easy to forget that in the only season he played every game – 2018 – he kicked 25 goals while also doing the ruck work. He is a proven option both in the ruck and as a big marking target up forward. With teams also needing to handle Josh Treacy, Patrick Voss and Jye Amiss, I can’t think of a second or third string backman in the league that could actually keep up with Cox and stop him in the air. Having a lesser player matched up on Cox, a seasoned AFL player, will really stretch defences. At the very least, he provides a contest and another scoring option. Whereas Darcy is playing around 50 per cent time-on-ground, Cox would shoulder the ruck load and also spend time being a huge force for the Dockers up forward. Darcy will miss at least the derby and possibly the clash with Carlton the week after, which means they get to see what it looks like with Cox and that will give them options later in the season. With five players on the bench this year, you have flexibility to try those sorts of things. The sub rule served its purpose, but I like having four on the bench because the game has got faster and it’s interesting how teams are using it strategically to give different players a chop-out. The Dockers have an interesting key-position battle with the Eagles coming up this weekend. I really like what Andrew McQualter’s side are building up forward and I particularly like Jobe Shanahan. I just love the way he competes. He’s a strong mark, catches it at his highest point, and while he’s only raw at the moment, he is also a pure kick of the footy and a good shot on goal. What he did against a strong Geelong backline on Sunday was really impressive and he’s going to be a scary proposition for the competition for years to come. Everyone says big guys like that take longer to come along, but he is already having genuine impact on games. He reminds me a bit of Shannon Neale as a genuine big that can ruck and go forward. You could forgive him for taking longer to develop but what he’s done in less than two seasons is a credit to his development. His footy brain is on-point and he can also go back behind the ball as we’ve already seen. Fremantle has a great defence and work together, but he could be a handful for them if they don’t put the work into him