AFL coaches have been sacked on a lot flimsier pretexts than Carlton now has were it to remove Michael Voss from his position sooner than later.
That will certainly be the direction some pretty upset Blues fans will be wanting, and I get why. But would it be the right move? Now? I’m not yet convinced it is. Why not? Because I just don’t think the answer is that simple. And these days in AFL football, it seldom is.
Editor’s Picks
Certainly, the Blues keep getting their noses rubbed in it with embarrassing fade outs and the surrendering of seemingly impregnable positions. It’s been going on for 18-odd months now, and Sunday’s example was arguably the worst yet.
The Blues led by no less than 43 points early in the second quarter. They were still 34 points up at half time, Melbourne having managed a pitiful one goal for a half. And yet somehow contrived to lose by an eventual 23 points, the Demons booting 14 goals to four after the main break.
Perhaps what made this one even worse, though, was that a decisive edge was trashed not just once but twice. Indeed, Voss himself referenced such a scenario at his post-game press conference when he talked about waiting for “that one moment that might get that score going (back) the other way.”
On Sunday, Carlton got a couple such moments at the start of the last quarter, Elijah Hollands restoring parity after Paddy Cross had kicked the first of the term for Melbourne. The Blues dominated the next few minutes, and by the time Matt Carroll added another goal, led again by a healthy 20 points.
The Blues have been outscored by 25 goals in second halves this season. Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images
Momentum had been arrested, the Blues were up and about again, and there was under 14 minutes left on the clock. And then? Melbourne kicked the last seven goals of the game. Obviously, for Carlton, that is simply unacceptable. But is that blame which can all be sheeted back to the coach?
It’s the eternal chicken or the egg argument, really, but should it be completely beholden upon the coach to make sure his players stay focussed when in a winning position, and don’t drop heads too quickly when things turn against them?
And ultimately, right now, what else is this really about for the Blues other than a failure to dig in sufficiently and defend when the situation demands it?
The second half numbers in three games thus far in 2026 are certainly damning, against Sydney, Richmond and now Melbourne, Carlton kicking a combined third and fourth quarter score of just 11.18 to their opponents’ 36.21, or 84 points to a whopping 237.
But then those collective scores for the first halves of the same games are Carlton 20.17 (137) to their opponents’ 8.18 (66). It’s not like the Blues can’t play coherent and dominant football.
It suggests that the single biggest issue now is less structural, more psychological. Yes, you can ask, is Voss incapable of connecting enough with his senior players to keep their efforts at 100% for long enough each week?
But surely experienced professional footballers (and the Blues were fifth for experience heading into this season) ultimately have to be able to find that drive from within?
Carlton conceded 14 goals in the second half. Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images
And this is perhaps why the Carlton hordes (and again, I get why) will always favour the idea of offloading Voss to other solutions. Not only because it’s easier in terms of one man out, another in, but because to pursue other ideas involves some uncomfortable truths.
Like, for example, the realisation that some of their biggest names, most important leaders and best players, are perhaps the most culpable here. As terrific as they’ve been for the Blues, even the likes of Patrick Cripps and Jacob Weitering aren’t beyond reproach, nor the likes of Sam Walsh or George Hewett.
Melbourne, largely via Kysaiah Pickett, was waltzing out of the stoppages by the end of this game, and finding too much space inside 50 once the ball got there. That’s less about structure and more about attitude across the park.
The on-field leaders, not for the first time, went missing. That’s poor leadership. And can there really be a simple assumption that suddenly changes just because there’s a different face in the coaching box?
Of course, Carlton, which as recently as last week had chief executive Graham Wright and chairman Rob Priestly doing the media rounds to explain the lengths to which it has gone to improve the circumstances around its senior coach, has in doing just that effectively also backed itself into a corner.
The Blues have worked hard to address perceived inadequacies, adding some more pace and polish to the mix after the much-documented review of the football operation which, unusually for this formerly ruthless operator of the old VFL, backed in (at least in the immediate term) its incumbent senior coach.
If just three games and a 1-2 win-loss record are enough to have Voss’ cards irretrievably marked, then what was the point in investing all that time, energy and resources into making the raft of changes to both list and off-field personnel in an attempt to shore up his position?
The benefits of those in new roles outside the arena, like any benefits from the arrival of the likes of Will Hayward, Ben Ainsworth, or Ollie Florent on the field, aren’t going to be realised with a snap of the fingers. It takes time. As would a rational assessment of Voss’ aptitude for the job with that new support network in place.
We all get how it works, of course, that the you-know-what ultimately stops with the you-know-who. That’s the case in most sport around the globe. And Voss, having already been sacked as an AFL senior coach once, knows it better than most.
All I’m saying is Carlton’s situation is not as black (or blue in this case) and white as the hordes would have us believe. And as someone never quite as convinced as some that the Blues have a drastically underperformed list, I’m not sure ‘Voss out, whoever in’ may be quite the magical elixir some seem to think it is.
You can read more of Rohan Connolly’s work at FOOTYOLOGY
