From the Pocket: Voss has had every chance to succeed but Carlton backed the wrong coach
Michael Voss often speaks about standards and habits.Right now, the Carlton coach’s team are habitual dwindlers.It’s on the whiteboard of every opposition coach.It’s in the marrow of every Blues player and supporter.And it goes back a long way.
Voss won eight of his first 10 games at Carlton,But of those wins, one was by three points after being 50 points up against Port Adelaide,They won by a point against Hawthorn after leading by seven goals,From then on, every significant loss of his tenure has seen the Blues squander large leads,They were four goals up at the final break before Collingwood “closed like the Grim Reaper” in 2022.
They led by five goals in the first quarter of the 2023 preliminary final against Brisbane,They were 39 points ahead in the first quarter of the GWS clash in 2024, a loss the club has never recovered from,They were 41 points up against a bunch of Richmond kids last year,And they surrendered a 43-point lead to Melbourne on Sunday,When teams keep losing like this, there is talk of effort, fitness and psychology.
One talkback caller this week said they needed an exorcism.But Carlton’s problems are not just above the shoulders.A lot of it comes down to the way they play and the way they’re coached.Despite some tinkering around the edges, the Blues still prioritise a bulldozing brand of football.But playing like that is labour intensive, and difficult to maintain for more than a half.
It’s impossible to maintain for months on end.It’s easy to scout and manipulate.And it’s not how good teams are playing in 2026.Voss said his main focus this year was on “bringing energy”.But they have brought energy for as long as he’s been coach.
Energy is great for a six-goal burst, a 30-minute sugar hit.And Carlton often bring it early in games.You see it in the way they tackle, chase and celebrate goals.It’s reflected in the nebulous “pressure rating” and the more definitive scoreboard.But there comes a moment in every game where energy gives way to reality.
There comes a moment where the opposition coach is furiously flipping magnets and Voss is down on the boundary line with his arms folded – an observer, not an initiator.There comes a moment that calls for tactical shifts and structural adjustments.And for too long, Carlton have been unable to meet those moments.There was a brief patch on Sunday where the Blues took a deep breath and slowed the tempo against the Demons.They got a goal out of it.
And it lasted about 90 seconds,When Blues boss Graham Wright stuck with Voss last year, it was a surprise,Wright was renowned for his shrewd and tough calls,He sacked Collingwood coach Nathan Buckley as respectfully as possible,At first, his appointment of Craig McRae seemed like a strange one.
Every Magpies coach had been a larger-than-life-figure – either a champion of the club or a premiership coach elsewhere,McRae didn’t seem like a natural frontman of a large and loud club,How wrong we were,Backing in Voss was another way of saying, “This isn’t the Carlton of Jack Elliott and Wes Lofts,” And that’s great.
But Wright was clearly seeing things we weren’t.He was seeing the way Voss coped with stress and his unflinching optimism.We were simply watching them play.A few days later, Carlton went out and lost in precisely the same way they’d been losing all year.“Contest and effort is still the primary part of what we need to bring every single week,” Voss said.
Rohan Connolly wrote a piece this week cautioning against a rash decision, especially after the club went to great lengths to put the right structures around the senior coach.And he’s right.Sacking Voss and installing a locum at this point of the season, when we’re a few days on from a Sheffield Shield final, would be madness.But that doesn’t mean the decision to retain him in the first place was the correct one.And it drums home how Voss, more than any football coach I can remember, has been given every possible chance to succeed.
In terms of draft picks, media coverage and club support, he couldn’t have asked for more.Right now, the people running Carlton have a lot to grapple with.They have a demoralised supporter base.They have a fixture that includes double ups against Brisbane, the Western Bulldogs, Collingwood and Fremantle.They have a team that keeps playing and losing the same way.
They have a coach who keeps saying the same things,And they have the growing realisation that their decision to back Voss – a decision that was data driven, unswayed by public opinion and the antitheses of how Carlton has operated for half a century – was the wrong one,And that they’ve backed the wrong horse,This is an extract from Guardian Australia’s free weekly AFL email, From the Pocket,To get the full version, just visit this page and follow the instructions
Sam Konstas axed from Cricket Australia’s contract list for busy 2026-27 season
Australia’s Ashes-winning players have been rewarded with contracts for a bumper 2026-27 cricket season, but there was no room on the 21-man list for Sam Konstas and Glenn Maxwell.Paceman Brendan Doggett, who made his full international debut against England in November’s opening Ashes Test in Perth, earned his first national contract, while opener Jake Weatherald, who played all five Tests last summer, retained his upgraded contract despite averaging just 22.33 during the series.Bowler Michael Neser and spinner Todd Murphy were again handed full contracts, ahead of a crammed Test schedule over the next 12 months, which starts with a two-match home series against Bangladesh in August.That is followed by ODI tours to Zimbabwe and South Africa, where Australia will also play a three-Test series, before a home white-ball series against England and a run of 10 Test matches in 14 weeks, against New Zealand, India and the 150th Anniversary Test against England at the MCG
Tiger Woods says he will step away from golf and seek treatment after DUI charge
Tiger Woods said he will step away from golf to seek treatment and focus on his health after his arrest on suspicion of driving under the influence following a rollover crash near his Florida home.“I know and understand the seriousness of the situation I find myself in today,” Woods said in a statement posted on X. “I am stepping away for a period of time to seek treatment and focus on my health. This is necessary in order for me to prioritize my well-being and work toward lasting recovery.”“I’m committed to taking the time needed to return in a healthier, stronger, and more focused place, both personally and professionally
Mako Vunipola to join Leicester and link up with former England teammate Parling
The former England prop Mako Vunipola has confirmed he is joining Leicester this summer as the Tigers look to beef up their pack for next season. The 35-year-old Vunipola will be joined in the East Midlands by the Argentinian front-row Joel Sclavi who will also help to fill the gap left by Nicky Smith’s impending switch to Sale Sharks.Vunipola, who won 79 England caps and was picked for three British & Irish Lions tours, is playing for Vannes in France’s ProD2 but has opted to extend his career by a year. “He was hungry for the chance to come back to the Prem and finish in the comp he knows best,” the Leicester head coach, Geoff Parling, said.“That coupled with his experience and what that can do for our young props is hopefully going to be really valuable
Dan Hurley’s ‘head-butt’ showed Black coaches aren’t given the same grace as white coaches
The UConn-Duke game on Sunday night was one for the ages. A last-second game winner from freshman Braylon Mullins took down the top-seeded Blue Devils, who at one point had led by 19 points. It is a moment that will be replayed over and over for years to come.However, something strange happened after Mullins’s shot. UConn’s head coach Dan Hurley approached referee Roger Ayers and touched foreheads with the official while glaring into his eyes
A gleaming tribute to Mary Rand’s gold | Brief letters
As a schoolboy, I was fascinated by coverage of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. A few years later, on a family holiday, we visited Wells Cathedral. Outside the grounds lay a gleaming brass strip in the pavement marking the distance that Mary Rand long-jumped to create her world record. A lovely tribute to this remarkable person (Mary Rand, first British woman to win Olympic athletics gold, dies aged 86, 27 March).Anil BhattSunderland Your review of the fourth instalment of Alan Bennett’s diaries, Enough Said (24 March), says he nearly always notes the anniversary of the beginning of his national service: “8/8/52
‘The computer went bananas’: error at O’Brien yard removes horses from 2,000 Guineas
The betting market for the 2,000 Guineas at Newmarket on 2 May was thrown into confusion on Tuesday when two significant candidates from the Aidan O’Brien stable, Gstaad and Albert Einstein, were taken out of the race, apparently as the result of an administrative error.The chaos was then compounded later in the day by uncertainty over whether a plan to re-engage both colts if necessary at a cost of £30,000 each might be prohibited by the rules of entry, before the British Horseracing Authority confirmed that supplementary entries would in fact be accepted.Gstaad, the winner of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf at Del Mar in November, was priced up on Tuesday morning at around 6‑1 for the first Classic of the season, and seen as potentially the Ballydoyle first string for a race the stable has won a record 10 times.He assumed the role of O’Brien’s No 1 contender after Albert Einstein, the winner of his first two starts as a juvenile in 2025 but unraced beyond May because of injury, finished only sixth of 10 runners on his three‑year‑old debut in a Listed race at the Curragh three days ago.Despite that reverse, however, and a subsequent suggestion that Albert Einstein might revert to sprinting with the Commonwealth Cup at Royal Ascot as an initial target, the colt was still priced up at 20-1 for the 2,000 Guineas and O’Brien intended to confirm both two-year-olds at the latest declaration stage on Tuesday
Jayson Gillham announces tour with Palestinian-Jordanian musician ahead of MSO court case
Fill that Glasto-shaped hole! The 40 best UK festivals you can still book
Shaun Micallef: ‘Charlie Pickering said that’s the only thing keeping him going – to vanquish me’
I thought I’d been coping with my sister’s death – a Taylor Swift song showed me I hadn’t
The Guide #236: Is celebrity casting a cynical marketing stunt or does it help to democratise theatre?
From The Magic Faraway Tree to 5 Seconds of Summer: your complete entertainment guide to the week ahead