Carlton coach Michael Voss lauds captain Patrick Cripps for refuting false report

The walls are closing in on Michael Voss and Carlton, but the Blues coach had some strong words about his leaders, including Patrick Cripps.

Blues coach Michael Voss is under the pump. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images

Carlton coach Michael Voss has hit out at external figures who he says are trying to “flip over rocks” to find weaknesses at the Blues, insisting his club remains united and is making progress on the field.

Voss praised captain Patrick Cripps for calling out a false report on Monday that he and Sam Docherty stayed away from the team in a boutique hotel while the Blues were in Sydney.

He said Cripps was a “fantastic leader” after he uncharacteristically fired up on social media over the false report that he said questioned his character.

“He well and truly stood his ground, and so he should,” Voss said.

“Everyone keeps flipping over these rocks and keeps trying to find something.

“Keep flipping rocks, but the reality is that we’re pretty clear on what we need to do next and what it’s going to take to make sure that we turn it around really quickly.

Patrick Cripps slammed the report. Picture: Mark Kolbe/AFL Photos/ via Getty Images

It came after separate reports emerged that defender Jacob Weitering had approached Carlton president Luke Sayers in the rooms to defend Voss’ performance after the Sydney loss.

Voss said commentators were trying to “create a picture” following the Blues’ horror run of six losses in seven games, but it did not reflect how the players and coaches felt about their progress this season.

“There’s still some things we need to be able to clean up in our game to be able to get us to take that next step … clearly we need to be able to execute for a little longer,” Voss said.

“I appreciate that there’s probably a picture that’s trying to be created right now, and there’s probably a bit of mistrust in some of the things that get reported.

“I’m pleased in a couple of instances that people have really stood their ground, and so they should.”

Carlton coach Michael Voss says it’s time to move on. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Voss said he did not witness a separate incident in the Carlton rooms on Friday in which board member Craig Mathieson made comments to Sayers that led to Mathieson’s resignation.

“I think over the course of the weekend, clearly there’s been a lot of good conversations that have been had, some timely conversations … some solutions about what’s needed moving forward for us,” Voss said.

“I think that speaks to some strong leadership to be fair – it obviously needed to get addressed, it got addressed and now we move on.”