Jonathan Brown backs fellow Brisbane Lion great, now Port assistant, Michael Voss for Saints, Blues jobs
Port Adelaide assistant Michael Voss wants to return to the senior coaching ranks, his former teammate Jonathan Brown says he would be a better leader the second time around.
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Triple Premiership player Jonathan Brown says his former captain and coach Michael Voss, now an assistant at Port, is in a “strong position” to return a senior AFL coaching role following the decision by Alan Richardson to step away from the St Kilda job.
Assistant coach at the Power since 2014 Voss, who also won a Brownlow Medal in addition to three flags, is now the third favourite for the vacant Saints job among bookies after it was announced yesterday that Richardson would immediately part ways with the club.
The Lions coach of five-years is also the second favourite among bookies for the vacant Carlton job, just behind interim coach David Teague — who was an assistant at the Crows.
Fox Footy expert Brown, a Lions legend who played with Voss as a teammate and was his captain, told The Advertiser that he had “no qualms in fully endorsing” Voss for the vacant jobs.
“I think he would be fantastic for either the second time around,” Brown said.
“It depends on what they go for but at the end of the day they go for the best candidate.
“I just think Vossy is in a strong position, he is a very smart man who would have learnt a hell of a lot (from his time coaching the Lions) and he would have genuine humility and he would be able to look back as a head coach on what worked, what didn’t work and what he would do differently next time.”
North Melbourne is also on the lookout for a new senior coach, but current interim Rhyce Shaw looks set to get it.
Voss has made no secret of his desire to have another crack at AFL senior coaching, saying last month that he believes he would be a better coach if he had another chance.
Brown said it was unfair to say that Voss completely failed as a senior coach but did agree that his former teammate would have learnt from his first stint.
“I think he is more than qualified (for another gig), I’m pretty confident the clubs are doing their due diligence on him and he would be one of the preferred candidates considering he coached his own club for five years and we know his wonderful leadership qualities,” he said.
“I think he would have learnt so much from the first crack, he will be able to put that into action.
“He got that first-hand experience as a senior coach but also going to another organisation would have seen the way Kenny went about it and how those things are managed.
“You have to be careful to remember that Vossy’s first go around wasn’t a complete failure, he had a very young side and made finals in his first year.
“He was very accomplished with his message and his leadership I thought he sold a really strong game plan but unfortunately there were recruiting errors made after that and gradually things fell apart.
“It is very hard to win games if the talent is just not there on the list … but he would have learnt from that.”
Brown said Voss had many attributes that would make him very appealing to those clubs looking for a new senior coach.
“He has got great leadership traits, a sense of a strong work ethic and sets a great example, he is a great orator, speaks really well and delivers a strong message,” he said.
“He has genuine humility and empathy for players from all talent levels and I saw that first hand as a teammate and his captain as well
“Culture starts from the top and he is fantastic for culture, he is one of the great leader of men and a guy who has a wealth of experience in the big moments which all the clubs aspire for.
“They would get a head coach who has first hand experience of that.”
Former North Melbourne coach Brad Scott and the man who will be in charge of the Saints in the interim, ex-Carlton supremo Brett Ratten, are considered to be the frontrunners for the permanent St Kilda job.
Originally published as Jonathan Brown backs fellow Brisbane Lion great, now Port assistant, Michael Voss for Saints, Blues jobs
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