Carlton coach Michael Voss refuses to think about lengthy injury list ahead of must-win clash in Perth

The three gap fillers being brought in by injury-ravaged Carlton for a must-win clash have a single AFL game between them, but coach Michael Voss is beaming with positivity.

Carlton coach Michael Voss is urging his crop of new players to be “courageous” and “bold” in Sunday’s must-win clash against West Coast, with two first-gamers and a second-gamer brought in to fill the gaps left by the injury carnage that has left the Blues as outsiders for the Perth showdown.

Among the six changes to the side that was carved up and dumped out of the top eight by Hawthorn last weekend, Ashton Moir will join Cooper Lord in making their AFL debuts, while Jaxon Binns will come in for just his second game.

But rather than dwell on the loss of star players, including key forwards Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay, losses that moved bookmakers to install the Blues as $2 outsiders against 16th placed West Coast, Voss said the energy from giving players their first games would embolden them for the trip west.

One Moir debutant?

𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞. 𝐖𝐞. 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐝.

— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) August 16, 2024

Carlton has to win the remaining two home-and-away games against first the Eagles and then St Kilda to be any chance of making the finals, having fallen out of the top four after losing five of the past six games.

But Voss is still driving the message that his team’s “job is not done” and will take that mentality to Perth.

“It’s different, unique is probably a word that we’ve used,” Voss said, describing the fallout from the Hawthorn loss that pushed their interchange list to 17 players.

“But there’s an element of excitement as well. How can you not get excited when you’ve got some players that are hearing some news that they’re playing for the first time?

“Downstairs earlier, we let Ashton (Moir) know that he also plays his first game, so as you can imagine, there’s a few smiling faces out there.

“We’re firmly fixed on the fact the job’s not done. You know, we haven’t shifted our focus on that. We want to have an impact in this season, and that hasn’t changed.

“You assess where you where you’re at and take a couple of days to be able to just have a look at what the way forward is.”

Charlie Curnow is one of 17 players on Carlton’s injury list. Picture: Daniel Pockett/Getty Images

Voss said Carlton remained a “system over talent” team but conceded that system, particularly defensively, broke down badly against the Hawks, as has been exposed by several pundits this week, and said the slate of injuries was “no excuse”.

“Our system let us down and the reality is we didn’t defend hard enough as a team, and we don’t step away from that,” he said.

Despite the limited time to bring so many new players up to speed with the system, Voss was more than happy to back in the additions and had given them a clear message in order to help bring the victory the Blues need.

“There’s a great uncertainty about what happens next, but that’s where courage lies and that’s where your boldness lies,” he said

“And that’s what we’re going to have to be like this week; play courageous, play bold, get a plan in place and execute.”

Originally published as Carlton coach Michael Voss refuses to think about lengthy injury list ahead of must-win clash in Perth