Collingwood finished in the top four in 2019, and they did so without many of their key weapons for the entirety of the season. That leads one AFL legend to believe their primed for an even bigger year in 2020, and the performance of one key player could be what makes or breaks them.
Nine AFL analyst Nathan Brown said that the Magpies were hit hard by an inconsistent roster during last season.
"They're still very much in that premiership window," Brown said.
"Last year I think they had a lot of excuses, they had a lot of injuries, players that didn't play full seasons, they had a few suspensions and then they got GWS on an awful night when it was raining a lot and GWS were playing out of their skin. So they just faulted at the last hurdle, but I expect them to be back up there.
"They didn't bring a lot of players in but they didn't have players play all games last year.
"De Goey missed some footy, Darcy Moore missed a fair bit, Jaidyn Stephenson, Jamie Elliott, Tom Langdon, Matthew Scharenberg... there's probably eight players who didn't play full seasons, so if they can get those players playing regular football I think they're a force to be reckoned with."
While there is plenty of attention on Jordan De Goey, Brown believes that it's actually Magpies hero, American forward Mason Cox, that will be the man that determines whether Collingwood have a successful year.
"Mason Cox for me is the link in that forward line," Brown said.
"If he can be the tall player that stands there, brings the ball to ground and kicks the goals himself rather than being a liability, I think they can be in premiership contention."
Brown argued that there was a drop in the variety of players scoring goals for the Magpies up front between 2018 and 2019, and that's why Cox stands to be such a crucial player for them in 2020.
With that prediction comes a lot of pressure though, and Brown said the US product needs to lift and not go missing in games.
"I love the story and love what he's done, but for me he's either unbelievable or he's not so great," he said.
"You can only have so many games when you're not impacting the scoreboard so for me Mason Cox needs to have a massive year for Collingwood to win the Premiership.
"I've got them finishing fourth or fifth. I think they can make top four, they're going to be around the mark again, they're going to have a crack at the Premiership."
from WWOS http://wwos.nine.com.au/afl/afl-2020-season-preview-collingwood-magpies-mason-cox-jordan-de-goey/7e54ebc9-9f81-4b3f-b01a-687d753e77da
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