Dean Cox

West Coast Eagles

The Eagles put Cox on their senior list and he made his AFL debut in 2001.

2005 season

He came of age during the 2005 season, where he became a dominant player for the Eagles.

He topped the year off with a terrific finals series, living up to his high standards. Two incidents stand out in particular for Cox – one where in the Qualifying Final against Sydney he took two saving marks in defence to secure the game in the dying moments, where his team got home by less than a goal. The other moment that stands out had the Eagles on the other end, where in the Grand Final three weeks later, also against Sydney, he took a strong mark on the half-forward line and speared the ball in towards a pack in the dying moments. Leo Barry took the game-saving mark from the kick, which secured the Swans a victory by less than a goal.

2006 season

Cox got off to a superb start to the season and was one of the premier players in the competition early. He continued his good form and established himself as one of the league's premier ruckmen, averaging over 20 hitouts and almost 20 disposals per game through Round 8 of the 2006 Season. However, in Round 13 he collided with a hard bump from Bulldog Adam Cooney, which left him with a broken collar bone. Cox returned to the side, and was a key figure in the Eagles thrilling 1 point win of Sydney in the 2006 AFL Grand Final, where he dominated against Sydney ruckman Stephen Doyle and Darren Jolly. Cox played 21 games in 2006, taking 141 marks and kicking 14 goals.

2007–2014

Cox played 21 games in 2007 and all 22 in 2008 as the club missed the finals, in what was a turbulent few years. The departure of Ben Cousins and Chris Judd (Carlton) and questions surrounding the clubs culture meant that Cox had to step up. Many thought he would be appointed Captain for 2008, but the position was awarded to Darren Glass. Cox made the All-Australian Team in both of these years, continuing to be the dominant ruckman of the competition despite playing in a struggling side (mostly in 2008). He also did no harm to his reputation as a ruckman/midfielder, collecting 25 disposals or more 5 times in 2007, and 7 times in 2008, and regularly featuring among the best. Standout games included the Semi-Final against Collingwood in 2007 that went to extra time (which West Coast lost), where Cox collected 27 disposals, 9 marks, 29 hitouts and a goal. In Round 10 of 2008 against Collingwood, again an Eagles loss, Cox gathered 30 disposals, 7 marks, 36 hitouts and kicked two goals.

Cox finished his career with 6,628 hitouts, an AFL record at the time of his retirement.^[2]

Sydney Swans

Cox joined the Sydney Swans as an assistant coach under senior coach John Longmire at the end of the 2017 season.^[3] On 26 November 2024, two months after the club suffered a 60-point loss to Brisbane Lions in the Grand Final, the club announced Longmire's resignation as senior coach and that Longmire would hand the senior coach role to assistant coach Cox, who became the 46th senior coach of the Sydney Swans.^{[4][5][6][7][8]}