Ty Vickery punch to force Dean Cox into retirement?

Dean Cox

Cox, one of the last survivors of West Coast’s 2006 premiership, had announced during the week he’d be joining the club’s former skipper, Darren Glass, in hanging up the boots at the end of the season.

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But the ruckman may be forced to do it early after copping a vicious roundhouse punch from Vickery late in the second quarter in what ended up a spiteful clash at Patersons Stadium, one that saw the Tigers hold on for a 17-point win.

With just five games left to play, Cox may be racing the clock to add to his 287 appearances if his jaw has been broken. He would be especially unlikely to play another game in Perth in this instance as the Eagles Round 23 clash is with Gold Coast at Metricon Stadum.

Eagles coach Adam Simpson refused to speculate on Cox’s condition, apart from saying: “He’s not good.”

Cox, to be fair, probably started it all as he threw a jab back into Vickery’s stomach at a ruck contest. But as the two rose to contest the ball, Vickery’s response came hard and fast as his fist came around to smash into Cox’s face, leaving him limp on the ground and setting off one spot fire after another from there on in.

Although the incident didn’t look quite as bad as Barry Hall’s infamous punch on another Eagle, former West Coast midfielder Brent Staker, the match review panel or the tribunal are sure to take a dim view.

Simpson, though, was clearly still furious when he fronted the press, firing off one terse, gruff statement after another when quizzed about the incident.

“How did you view it,” was the first question.
 
“What do you reckon?”

“We think it was ugly?”
 
“That's up to you guys.”
 
“Can you say more?”
 
“Of course I can't.”
 
“How did your players respond?”
 
“Let's not talk about that. It'll deal with itself throughout the week.”
 
“Do you have good faith in the system?”
 
“Time will tell.”

“When you say no good do you mean a break in his jaw?”
 
“Don't know. I don't know.”

After generating a few good quotes about the game itself – Simpson said the intent was there in the wet conditions but his side had ‘too many passengers’ – the journos attempted to get more out of him on Cox.

“Will Cox need scans,” one journalist asked.

“I couldn't tell you. I'd be guessing if I said yes or no.”
 
“Is your approach part of the Mark Evans memo to not say anything,” asked another journalist, referring to the AFL operations boss’ note to clubs, directing them not to comment on possible reports.

“I don't want to cop a fine,” returned Simpson.

“There's no point. It will take care of itself. I think you know how I feel. You get a sense, don't you?”

Simpson’s fury was echoed by West Coast supporters as members of the crowd tried baiting Vickery from over the fence, especially as he came to the bench.

On one occasion during the third quarter as he went to sit down, Vickery appeared to get into a war of words with two fans standing over the dug-out, with one of those fans slapping his hand down on the plastic as Vickery took his seat.

The altercation had echoes of a similar incident from 2001 when Geelong defender Darren Millburn was abused by Carlton supporters after a heavy hit on Steve Silvagni.

The difference in this instance, though, may be that the people abusing him could have actually been Richmond supporters – Vickery wasn’t the most popular Tiger going around even before Friday night – as their scarves appeared to be yellow and black below their coats.

Regardless of the fans’ affiliations, Richmond coach Damien Hardwick took a dim view of it.

“At the end of the day, if you have a couple of lunatics hanging over the fence, yelling abuse… I don’t know another profession in the world where you can walk into a bank teller and start calling them names like that,” Hardwick said.

“It is what it is, I would prefer it if Ty didn’t didn’t react probably to the fans, but it’s a volatile game – it’s a hard game. Every player and every fan has the right.”

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