Nikolas Cox (born 15 January 2002) is an Australian rules footballer 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 ...

in the Australian Football League (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 Nati ...

. 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 Knight ...

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 identified ...

. 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 South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the souther ...

. 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 featu ...

, 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 Oliver Daniel Hanrahan (born 27 August 1998) is a professional Australian rules football player who most recently played with the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hanrahan was recruited to Hawthorn with selectio ...

, 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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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 tr ...

. 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 Australia's Next Top Model, Cycle 7, cycle 7 of ''Australia's Next Top Model''. ''Australia's Next Top Model'' Cox was announced the winner of Aust ...

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 me ...

suburb of

Lower Plenty Lower Plenty is a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 16 km north-east from Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Banyule local government area. Lower Plenty recorded a population of 3,962 at the 2021 ce ...

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