Tassie boy Fox enjoying his time at Coburg


“I don’t think it has anything on Melbourne – just because of the lack of population and stuff – but they’re passionate,” says Coburg’s dashing defender Robbie Fox about his home state of Tasmania.
Fox grew up on the Apple Isle, known for its enthusiasm for AFL and churning out superstars like Matthew Richardson, Alastair Lynch and the Riewoldt cousins. He played for local club Burnie – the club where Coburg coach Peter German landed his first coaching role – and made his senior debut as a 17-year-old. He was also a very capable junior basketballer, but, in 2011, found his way in to Tasmania’s TAC Cup and then under-18 state championship sides.
“I was always doing basketball with state and stuff and one of my mates got me to try out for the under-16 team but I never thought I was going to make it,” Fox says. “Then I made it so it was a big honour back then.”
Also used on the wing, Fox made the move to Melbourne in 2013 and joined Essendon District Football League powerhouse Aberfeldie.
“It was good having a home club after moving to Melbourne,” Fox says.
“The coaches, Mal Michael and stuff, knew a lot more about football than my past coaches. Playing with Kyle Reimers, Courtney Johns and those types of guys, I learnt a lot about the way they go about it.”
2014 was bittersweet for Fox. He had a breakout year for Abers, winning the club’s Most Improved Player award, but lost the Premier Division grand final for the second consecutive year. Fox admits the decision to join Coburg wasn’t simple one but the club’s persistence, and his willingness to take his game to the next level, was the deciding factors.
“After my first year at Aberfeldie [Coburg recruiter] James West rang me but then I went home for the summer. Then I got another phone call when I was over there asking if I was still able to come down but I wanted to give it a miss because we’d just lost the grand final and I wanted to have a second year at Abers,” Fox says.
“And then after the grand final this year, James rang me again and, after a good season, I thought it was a good time for me to give it a go – even though it was bad timing losing the second grand final.”
“It was a really hard decision for me because I wanted to stay there and help win the grand final for Abers because they haven’t won it for 40-something years in Premier Division. It would’ve been easier if we had won it [in 2014]. But, at the same time, it was exciting to see where Coburg was at and where it’s heading and I wanted to be a part of it.”
Fox has been in and out of the senior team in 2015 and, while he admits he needs to improve his consistency, he says injuries have made it more difficult.
“I feel like I’m senior football ready. Injuries held me back a bit – I never really had injuries until this year. I guess injuries have just annoyed me more than anything this year so I’m just trying to get my body right.”
“I did a quad in one of the practice matches and was out for three weeks, Fox says.
“I came back in round one, through development, and then in round two – when I played my first senior game – I did my quad again and that put me out again.”
After a couple of disappointing results Fox expects the Lions to stand up against a tough Sandringham side on Sunday afternoon.
“It should be a tough game but I think we really need to bounce back after two bad weeks. We had a really good game against Casey and just fell short and I think Sandy is on the same sort of mark as them. They’ve got some St Kilda players so we definitely expect a challenge.”