Michael Voss will get his second chance at senior coaching, winning the race for the job at Carlton. Image: Port Adelaide
They may have missed out on Ross but they settled on, and are very happy with Michael. Michael Voss is the new Carlton senior coach, unveiled today on Zoom with very little fanfare.
The former Brisbane Lions champion player and one-time coach won the gig ahead of the highly-rated untried group including Adam Kingsley, Daniel Giansiracusa, and Andrew McQualter who all presented before the Carlton sub-committee panel which included new CEO Brian Cook in recent days.
After seven seasons at Port Adelaide as an assistant coach, Voss returns to the senior coaching chair with both the necessary experience he didn’t have when he first stepped into the world of senior coaching and a point to prove to himself and the rest of the industry.
Voss, 46, was only two years removed from playing when he was appointed as the senior coach of the Lions following the departure of Leigh Matthews in 2007.
Following a year working the media, Voss was initially appointed as an assistant coach at the West Coast Eagles to start his coaching journey before being parachuted into the top job at the club where he captained three premierships.
At 34-years-old when he took the Brisbane coaching job, he led the Lions to a finals series in 2009 and presided over 109 games with a 43-1-65 record before getting relieved of his duties at the end of 2013.
Now, with extra development as a coach and a person and having served a coaching apprenticeship he didn’t have the first time around, Voss says he is ready for his second chance in the big chair, ready for the “huge honour” to coach the Carlton Football Club.
It’s a chance that he says he isn’t going to take for granted and will be one that he hopes to silence some critics.
“I won’t lie there’s an element of (having a point to prove) within me,” Voss said to the media on Thursday.
“I am essentially a competitor. Ratifying that as a player’s one thing, it’s very easy to be able to get there and make a difference the way that you play, you do that very differently as a coach.
“For me, as a competitor, you’re always trying to get the best version of yourself and we’re not here to be a part of a group, we’re here to be the best, and as competitors, that’s what we’re going to strive for.”
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Voss said he had been in contact with several players on Thursday morning, including exchanging text messages with co-captains Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty.
He, like President Luke Sayers and many Carlton fans alike, is hoping for a quick return to finals action in 2022 after an eight-year absence.
“It’s largely important not to cap where we want to be,” Voss said.
“There’s some good talent here and that’s one of the real exciting parts of being able to coach this football team. I won’t step away from embracing expectations.
“We’ve got a rich history and have had some great success as a football club and we’ll embrace those expectations.
“But hopefully we can also shift the narrative a little to how we can actually play for an even greater purpose, which becomes even bigger than the result itself.”
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