AFL 2025: Carlton coach Michael Voss on the impact of title-winning manager Ange Postecoglou
Carlton coach Michael Voss spent time under the wing of Ange Postecoglou earlier this year and he left with one overarching lesson.
AFL
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Michael Voss wasn’t expecting a reply – but he got one rather quickly.
The Carlton coached reached out to congratulate Tottenham Hotspur manager Ange Postecoglou after his Europa League triumph and was quickly buzzed back.
“I wasn’t expecting a reply, but such is the man, he replied, short and succinct and the last message was ‘always watching’,” Voss said with a smile.
Voss spent time at the North London club earlier this year under Postecoglou’s wing, learning – and reinforcing – methods to one day bring the Blues further success.
He left his time alongside Postecoglou with greater understanding of persistence.
“The time it takes to create that generational change, I think watching another coach go about their business and how they’re able to do that,” Voss said of his biggest lesson.
“It probably does put into context the enormity of the job you do have and the level or persistence it takes to experience the ultimate.
“If anything you walk away doubling down on the things you think are right and that will hold you in good stead.
“Coming away from that, you bounce back into here and go ‘let’s keep going’ and maybe there’s a little bit of lessons in that for us right now.”
Voss drew inspiration from Postecoglou’s perceived stubbornness, saying he viewed that differently.
“He’s very forthright in his views, and I think some people have called him stubborn at times,“ he said.
“But I just see a coach that really believes in what he thinks is the right way to do it, and he’s proven that over time.
“I will just say that probably the message is not so much what he told me, but what I get out of it was, it’s about persistence and modelling the right things and you gotta believe, keep getting after it.
“It really doesn’t matter what other people say – it’s more about what we think and what we believe.”
Carlton has regained star big man Tom De Koning for its clash with GWS as a boost for captain Patrick Cripps in the middle of the ground.
Voss, with a hint of Postecoglou press conference bite, defended his skipper from recent criticism about his performance.
“You get stuck a little bit between the criticism of ‘we’re a one-man band’, and then as soon as a few others start joining him, ‘it’s he’s not doing good enough’,” Voss said.
“So I’ll take the share load version – I’ll take the leader who’s willing to step back for others to step up and I think we’ll be ultimately a better club because of it.”
Originally published as AFL 2025: Carlton coach Michael Voss on the impact of title-winning manager Ange Postecoglou
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