IT HAS long been said that when America sneezes, Australia catches a cold.

In the case of Mason Cox, it seems that when the big American sneezes, Collingwood catches a superbug.

And we have Nathan Buckley's word for it.

Cox produced a markless, scoreless performance he'd prefer to forget in the Pies' round one loss to Hawthorn, an effort compounded by a one-game suspension for an errant elbow.

Twin towers no certainty to return

The 'American Pie' continued his tale of woe last week when he set in motion a chain of unfortunate events.

At training, Cox kneed fellow key forward Ben Reid in the hip, an injury that saw the 2010 premiership player as a late withdrawal from the clash with Greater Western Sydney.

Reid's replacement, Tim Broomhead, then suffered a sickening, season-ending broken leg in the first quarter when he accidentally kicked a goalpost while trying to soccer a ball through for a goal.

So on Wednesday, dry-humoured Buckley lightened the mood when asked whether winless Collingwood's encounter with Carlton on Friday night was a chance for a refreshed Cox to redeem himself.

"You'd hope so," Buckley began, before a wry grin crossed his face.

"He put his knee into Reidy's hip, which kept Reidy out of the side for last week, so there was a bit of butterfly effect in all of that.

"And when Reidy missed, Broomy was selected, so there was a bit of a roll-on effect from that."

Another possible victim of the Cox "butterfly effect", whom Buckley failed to mention, was young tall Darcy Moore.

In Reid's absence, Moore was swung forward and sustained a hamstring injury that will sideline him for up to four weeks.