NFL journo now ‘expert’ on AFL makes bold flag prediction
Updated . First published
Australia’s new favourite American, Grant Cohn, is tipping the Geelong Cats to win the AFL premiership after falling in love with the sport and one player in particular.
“Anytime you’ve got Patrick Dangerfield on your team, I think you’ve got a good chance,” he told Nine’s Today on Tuesday.
Grant Cohn at the MCG. X
“So yeah, why not? It’s an amazing name.”
Cohn is ostensibly in Melbourne to cover the San Francisco 49ers′ historic NFL clash with the Los Angeles Rams at the MCG on Friday.
But his enthusiastic embrace of all things Aussie on social media has seen him go viral for everything but his gridiron opinions.
While some of his American colleagues were grumbling about jet-lag, Cohn threw himself into the action at the ‘G’ for the Geelong vs Carlton elimination final.
As of Tuesday, Cohn’s “instant analysis” of the Cats win has been viewed 623,000 times on X alone as he lauded the stirring performance of Geelong great “Patrick f---ing Dangerfield.”
“I had no idea what to expect when I walked in the stadium,” he told Today.
“I thought it was rugby, and then I’m watching them like, ‘Oh, these guys are all punting,’ and they can punt with their right leg, they can punt with their left leg.
“They’re deadly accurate. I mean, they can kick it 50 metres. I had no idea what to expect, but by the end of the game, I was an expert on the sport and a lifelong diehard Geelong Cats fan, so I’m so happy they won.”
Cohn followed up on X by slamming the Brisbane Lions’ flat loss to the Sydney Swans, pronouncing Lachie Neale’s first name as “Lashay.”
Cohn has also filed instant analysis on Australian burritos (“50 per cent sour cream, hurt my feelings”), coffee (“as good or better than the coffee on the West Coast”) and pub parmas (“way better than it should be”).
But his favourite thing about the country?
“How friendly everyone is. It feels like northern California, the weather, the coffee, the wine, but people are genuinely friendly here,” he said.
“In California, people pretend to be friendly. They’ll say, ‘Hey, how’s it going?’ That means get out of my face.”
Cohn has also taken aim at Marcus Bontempelli, claiming the Western Bulldogs star had failed to deliver on the big stage in the season-ending 90-68 loss to the Adelaide Crows last weekend.
As for his tip on Friday?
“Probably the Rams,” Cohn said.
“A lot of people are picking the Niners because they came out a week early and jet lag is going to be a factor. I don’t really feel jet-lagged, so I’m picking the team that’s better. No offence to Niners fans, but I think the Rams are a little bit better.”
While the star-studded, Super Bowl favourite Rams cop flak for staying home at their plush Los Angeles facility, the 49ers are embracing their unique time in Melbourne.
49ers quarterback Brock Purdy at training on Monday. AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayak
49ers representatives Joe Nedney, Justin Prettyman and Ian Williams even tackled a Bunnings sausage sizzle on Saturday.
The Rams, meanwhile, will fly out of Los Angeles on Wednesday (AEST) and arrive about 24 hours before the big game - despite being the ‘home’ team on paper.
“It doesn’t mean that we think we’re right, and a different approach is wrong,” Rams coach Sean McVay said.
“It’s just what we think is best based on the things that we’ve done and what we’ve learned over our time here.”
McVay said the plan was influenced in part by how the Rams approached their game against the Jacksonville Jaguars in London in October, when they arrived on Saturday morning for a Sunday afternoon start.
They rolled to a comfortable 35-7 win at Wembley.
