Essendon Football Club is dealing with some uncertainty regarding the future of thrilling young utility Nik Cox. In recent years, he’s battled through a string of disappointments stemming from concussion problems. The 200cm athlete, who was drafted with pick No. 8 in the 2020 draft, quickly gained attention for his impressive athleticism and mobility on the field. A series of injuries have kept him out for all of this season.
Cox had a promising debut season in 2021, playing 22 senior games. His performance excited fans and analysts alike. Red flags started to appear after he was limited to just 11 games both in 2022 and 2023, signaling a need to monitor his long-term durability. The break came in Round 22 of last season. Cox went on to have serious complications from the concussion he sustained while a passenger, and therefore not at fault.
At the outset, he was given a very explicit return-to-play trajectory. Last week, with Christmas approaching, his fortunes took a frightening turn during a training session. Symptoms persisted into the pre-season, leaving him unable to play in any of the senior games this year.
Despite having already played two games at the VFL level, Cox was once more put out of action and re-entered into concussion protocols. Unfortunately, an independent panel recently ruled on his state and advised that he miss the rest of the season.
Caroline Wilson responded directly on that point, stressing the anger that Essendon must feel over the red tape and bureaucratic roadblocks at play.
“The situation now, and this is what’s frustrating Essendon, is that the concussion committee cannot be convened for the purposes of assessing the future of Nik Cox until at the very, very earliest October and probably November.” – Caroline Wilson
Wilson emphasized that getting past these obstacles is no easy task, with doctors and packed schedules leading to lags.
“Look, I don’t know if it’s bureaucracy. These are busy people. There’s medical people involved. They have busy schedules. This is also a very costly exercise. Clubs have to pay for this, and it’s not coming out of the soft cap.” – Caroline Wilson
It’s so important not to make snap judgments when it comes to player health.
“It’s also something that you wouldn’t want to rush into.” – Caroline Wilson
As talk goes on inside the football club, Luke Hodge has been pretty strong in saying that whatever happens to Cox we need to make the right choice. As it stands today, specialty experts say Cox is a “50-50 proposition” to ever play again.
