Jackson Voss emerges from dad’s shadow as genuine AFL draft hope at Frankston
St Kilda has made a lot of noise about father-son picks — yet five years ago it overlooked one who many state league watchers think should be playing AFL. Paul Amy finds out more.
At a time when St Kilda is making a lot of noise about the father-son rule and what it sees as the Academy calamity, a powerful left-footer from Frankston is rising to the top rungs of VFL players.
He gives the ball a great hoof from halfback.
He is as strong as a seawall.
And he is courageous.
The Saints will know him well.
He is Jackson Voss, the son of former St Kilda defender Brett.
Voss junior did spend time at the Saints and he’s grateful for it, but he is the first to say he was no standout father-son candidate as he came through Sandringham Dragons.
Now, at 23 and 75 games into his VFL career with the resurgent Dolphins, he may prompt the Saints and a few other AFL clubs to have another look at him.
Frankston coach Jackson Kornberg has taken no phone calls from recruiters about his long-kicking defender, but he thinks they ought be watching Voss.
“Nothing yet, but there should be,’’ he says of contact from AFL clubs.
“He’s having his best season. He’s playing as good as footy as I’ve seen. He’s accumulating, he’s damaging with the ball, he’s leading well, he’s investing in others. He’s improved out of sight in the past 12 months. He’s taken his game to another level.’’
He’s helped the Dolphins, for so long one of the VFL’s strugglers, to find another level too.
Voss puts his increasing influence down to improved fitness (a better diet has him in good trim) and greater confidence (“II know I can put a really solid performance together every week’’).
Jackson Voss SKY-HIGH 🆙
— VFL / VFLW (@VFL) May 20, 2023
Monster grab by the @FrankstonFC star.
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Some inspiration from his best mate, Tom McCarthy, has kicked in too.
It wasn’t long ago that McCarthy was playing suburban football and turning up to Frankston, cracking a can on the hill and cheering on his Cheltenham Panthers juniors teammate.
The roles have reversed. After McCarthy’s dazzling rise to West Coast Eagles via Richmond VFL and the mid-season draft, Voss made the trip to Perth to watch terrific Tom make his AFL debut against Carlton.
“That’s given me a little bit of a push to try to get better,’’ Voss says.
“I’ve known Tom pretty much my whole life. We went to kindergarten together and we lived a street away from each other. It’s honestly been such a weird – he’ll tell you this himself – it’s been such a fast change to what we grew up dreaming about. Couldn’t be prouder of him.’’
He jokes that McCarthy was “no good’’ at Chelt Panthers.
Voss was a far more advanced under-age player. He was a Victorian Under 12 pick and joined the Sandringham Dragons and the St Kilda NGA as a father-son member, along with Tyson Milne, now another dashing Dolphin.
“We were down there for a few years. We got a great experience from the club,’’ he says. “It was awesome to be part of it.’’
Was he under serious consideration to be taken by the Saints?
“Honestly, probably not. I probably wasn’t at the standard of what needed to be done,’’ Voss says.
“That was my own fault. I didn’t take the right steps that needed to be taken. The Dragons team was stacked with players so maybe I’d fallen down the pecking order there. Looking back on that time, I probably could have done more….’’
Jackson Voss kicks a ripper!
— VFL / VFLW (@VFL) April 24, 2025
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He says he was a “designated role-player’’ with Sandy Dragons, content to shut down his opponent and “let the stars run around’’.
“There were a lot of players who were a lot better than me,’’ he says.
Voss was at St Bede’s College. When the private school players were available, “they were the show’’, he says.
“I’m a very competitive person. My mission back then was to win and do my best for the team,’’ Voss says. “Getting drafted wasn’t at the front of my mind.’’
He adds: “When you’re young, you kind of think it’s just going to happen and I probably fell in that mindset a little bit, you know, father-son, all that sort of stuff and it kind of slipped by.’’
Josh Bourke was coaching the Dragons in 2019 as Voss played through his top-age year.
He thought the Saints should have had a closer look at their father-son prospect.
Bourke says Voss showed he had an “AFL-level weapon – and that was his ability to kick the footy’’.
The Dragons did have a stacked team, he says, but Voss was a talent in his own right.
“Apart from his kicking, he had that toughness about him. He should have got a better look at it, 100 per cent. There’s no doubt about that,’’ Bourke says.
Jackson Voss one step, BANG!
— VFL / VFLW (@VFL) April 24, 2025
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After talks with former Frankston coach Danny Ryan, Voss joined the Dolphins in 2020.
He’s come to regard Frankston as his second home. His teammates have become his mates. “Lifelong mates,’’ he says.
Voss is on a fines committee (Milne, Taine Barlow and Tomo Owens are the others), doling out penalties for any media mentions. It helps lighten the mood and keep the temperature around the club at comfortable level.
How much will this article cost him? “Well, that’s the funny thing. When you run the fines you can manipulate it,’’ he says.
More seriously, the players have stuck and come together under bright young coach Kornberg to build the Dolphins into a team capable of winning finals.
“It’s been so rewarding to go through tough times and come out the other side,’’ Voss, a sales executive at TGI Sport, says.
His rise has been crucial to the club. Last season he ran third in the best and fairest, gaining 13 mentions in the best. If he keeps his form up, he may well win the award this year. After 11 matches he was averaging 25.8 disposals and 7.5 marks.
“I’ve tried to be our offensive burst and use my explosiveness and also my leg and go forward and gets some looks inside 50,’’ Voss says.
“I’ve been given a bit of a licence, which is pretty good.’’
Getting drafted has come into his thinking. Now he takes nothing granted.
“There were times in the past when I wondered if I was good enough,’’ Voss says. “My best footy gives me a chance to make an impact at AFL level. I’m just trying to put together strong performances and contributing to wins and being a team man.’’
JACKSON KORNBERG ON JACKSON VOSS
“He’s a nice, long, left-foot kick, he drives his legs, he’s got power, he’s strong in the contest, he’s courageous. He’s our highest-ranked intercept marking player as well. So he not only wins it at ground level, he flies through the air … he can get it aerially. If you look at what he can do, I think some of his strengths and his weapons are certainly AFL-quality. He can kick the ball as far as anyone, he’s tough and powerful … they could do a lot worse than have him on an AFL list.’’
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