Amidst the fanfare and white smoke of the Michael Voss appointment, some small murmurings could be read wondering if all that glitters could turn to gold. No one has had a more illustrious career than Voss, but as we all know, that doesn’t always translate to being a successful coach.
In the modern day AFL, there seems to be a process when it comes to being a head coach: you become an assistant coach at one of the sixteen clubs and from there you graduate to the top spot.
AFL clubs are even happy to appoint someone who hasn’t had a distinguished playing career as long as they have been through this, such as Neil Craig, Wayne Brittain, Jeff Gieschen and Grant Thomas
Only two AFL coaches don’t satisfy these criteria.
The first is Michael Malthouse, who is grandfathered from this. And now Voss.
After two spectacular busts in the late 90s, the book seemed to be closed on former players beginning their coaching career at the top.
Exhibit A is Tony Shaw.
The Premiership winning captain, Norm Smith medalist and two time Copeland Trophy winner is Collingwood through and through.
With impeccable bloodlines, this was very much an old-school appointment but on-field it was a disaster.
For just the second time in the Magpies history they went four years without making the finals and when they won just their second wooden spoon enough was enough.
For a club with such a proud history who was used to being at the other end of the ladder this was too much to bear and Shaw and his 30-58 record were gone.
St Kilda went the same route when they appointed Tim Watson at the end of the 1998 season but Watson was reckoned to a different creature to Shaw.
Watson as we all know had a spectacular career. He began as a 15 year old and won two flags with the Baby Bombers before coming out of retirement and winning a third with the Baby Bombers Mark II.
From there he went straight into the media and stayed there until St Kilda came knocking on his door to replace Stan Alves. The Saints had just been knocked out of the finals after having made the Grand Final the year before.
With Robert Harvey having just picked up his second consecutive Brownlow medal surely success was imminent and Timmy the one to turn Moorabbin into the promised land?
The first year they finished with a 10-12 record which translated to a game and percentage outside the finals. The next year they went into freefall and 2-19-1.
After that, it was thought the door had been firmly shut on hiring coaches with no assistant coaching experience; that was until now.
Voss was going down the conventional path as an assistant with the West Coast Eagles but then it became a case of now or never when the Lions’ position became available. So now it is up to Voss to defy history and show that it can be done.
According to Kevin Sheedy, “You need two years, even three, as an assistant coach before taking on a senior gig.”
But if anyone can defy convention it is Voss.
Anyone who saw the incident when he horrifically broke his leg would have wondered if he could have ever run again, let alone play football, let alone lead his side to three successive premierships.
In any event, the whole relationship between a coach and his players and how that affects performance is a complex one.
Yes the coach doesn’t go out there and kick the ball or lay a tackle. But yet something has to be said for the records of coaches such as Paul Roos and Malthouse, and before them, Tom Hafey, Allen Jeans, and Ron Barassi.
For someone like Voss, coaching seems a natural move, but it won’t come easy.
As a player he was used to leading by his actions and now all he can do is talk.
He may find it frustrating when players with lesser football brains make mistakes he considers simply incomprehensible.
Good luck to the champion. He has overcome far tougher already, and if anyone can actually pull it off, it is him.
John Ryan
Roar Pro
Dear Bruce,it wont rate that's why, unfortunately for you, if you want to watch AFL move to Melbourne,Conroy is a Football fan,even the Swans don,t rate in Sydney and as I am being constantly told by AFL fans cause I live in Perth deal with it. Think of how great it will be when you have two AFL sides to follow in Sydney and Brisbane and 99% still wont care
Bruce Walkley
Guest
Yes, Chris, but how many TV channels with the rights to ice hockey and the other North American team sports delay games for an hour and a half, like Channel Ten here is doing to Sydney viewers with the Collingwood v St Kilda match tonight? Come on Collingwood and Saints fans, send your protests to http://afl.ten.com.au/contact-us.htm or to communications minister Stephen Conroy at minister@dbcde.gov.au and demand a use it or lose it system, with the game going to Fox Sports if the free-to-air rights holders won't telecast it live. Emailing the AFL via the radio and tv link on their site won't do any harm, either, although they won't reply to you.
Chris Beck
Guest
I agree with this in the case of Gretzky. His Phoenix team is young, fast, and plays physically - they're not offensively gifted like their coach was. I suppose to some degree a team should play a style that the players are capable of implementing. Given the turnover of the roster in recent years, will Voss have anything (one obvious exception being Brown) to work with in Brisbane in terms of skilled players?
Spiro Zavos
Expert
My other observation about players who become coaches is that they tend to try and present teams that play in the opposite way to which they did. You get journeymen player/coaches who specialised in the thump-bash gameas players trying to produce slick, fast and skilful sides (Jack Gibson). It'll be interesting to see if this works out with Michael Voss.
Chris Beck
Guest
Spiro - I agree with you in general about great players not necessarily being the best coaches for more ordinary players. A good example is Wayne Gretzky. After he retired, I remember him saying something like he didn't think that he would ever coach because he saw everything on the ice, and in a way that pretty much nobody else could see, therefore how could he tell more normal guys what to do? That said, he's in his third (I think) year of coaching, but I think most would agree that the jury's still out as far as how good of a coach he currently is or will be someday.
David Wiseman
Roar Guru
Spiro - I think that Voss comes from the Paul Roos/Teddy Roosevelt school where he speaks quietly but carries a big stick. My major concern about him is that he hasn't observed enough matches from the coaching box where he could experience what works and what doesn't work. Then again Kevin Sheedy took Essendon to a Grand Final in his third year and won flags in his fourth and fifth years. Justin - I think what he was worried into falling in the same boat as Sheedy and Richmond in that the stars never realigned for them again. Too many what ifs to worry about so he took the chance while he could. There are more qualified coaches out there but his profile and identity is/was a major factor that you can't overlook. Michael C - You make good points and often the end result of performance is completely random. Take a look at the last two European Championships in soccer.... If a player has a shot for goal after the siren to win/lose the game that affects the coach but has nothing to do with him or his ability. What about if a star player goes down in the pre-season. Injuries are something else you can't control. Terry Kidd - I agree with what you say but again whatever happens in most like random... Justin Part II - True, but then again Brisbane is not St Kilda... Terry Part II - Good point but at times he will find it frustrating because for him the game came so easily. It's like trying to maths to an eight year old. Yes it is completlely logical but no matter how many times you explain it they still not might get it.
Terry Kidd
Guest
Justin, I agree with you re: Buckley, if he masters the relationship building side of things then I think he would make a very good coach. I think that Voss has already mastered that side of things and has served an apprenticeship of sorts. Despite his unofficial involvement this year he also served as an assistant coach while he was recuperating from his broken leg. My point was, and I probably didn't make it too clear, was that Voss' circumstance maybe slightly different to that of Shaw or Watson, in that he, like them, will have picked up knowledge and experience by osmosis but he has also had some small opportunity to practice it, unlike Shaw and Watson.
Justin
Guest
Terry - Watson was coached by Sheedy for umpteen years, surely he would have learned just as much as Voss has? I think managing in the vicinity of 50 people is a much more demanding role than some believe or perhaps some dont event think about that. Its as much about communicating what you know and managing different people and scenarios as it is about telling player X to kick it here. I agree it may not be cut and dried but besides his playing days there is nothing to suggest Voss is going to be a success. His comments on channel 10 are not exactly mind blowing. Nathan Buckley impresses me much more with his thinking on the game and as someone known to have an ego I think he has admitted that he would need some time as an assistant.
Terry Kidd
Guest
G'day Justin, I don't think the situation is as cut and dried as you have painted it. It is fact that the Lions had a succession plan in place where they wanted Voss to succeed Matthews when Matthews was ready to go. Voss was informed of this which is why he pulled out of the Gold Coast coaching gig. He accepted the assistant's role with West Coast for 1 year, with an option for a 2nd, on the basis that he would get some coaching experience prior to Matthews departing the Lions. Matthews threw a spanner in the works by surprisingly departing at least a year early. Voss is not to blame for this happening now. Although I don't know it for fact, I tend to believe that Voss will have picked up an awful lot of Matthew's knowledge and experience, especially this year when he has still been close to the club although not in any official role. Thus I tend to believe that he may actually be better prepared, and more suited to a head coach role, than Tony Shaw or Tim Watson ever were. I hope he succeeds and I believe that he will.
Michael C
Guest
Running thru the '80s era, the coaches tended to be back pocket players come good (i.e. not guys who had tremendous 'natural' talent - thus, they had to think their way through) - such coaches included Denis Pagan, Kevin Sheedy and Mick Malthouse. Looking at a guy like Leigh Matthews - he perhaps wasn't an absolute naturally gifted athlete, he also, had to think through the game. However, these days - - the professional approach to playing the game, the preparation, analysis - - it's hard to imagine that a Michael Voss couldn't have got where he did without a fair degree of 'introspection' of the game. Also - these days, the coaching 'panel' is broader than ever, more assistant coaches, development coaches etc - and even Football Managers sitting above the coach. So - - I don't have any problem with the Lions going with Michael Voss - - they, the Lions certainly know what they're getting personality wise, and, there's only so many of the Voss era players going around - - and, given that Voss was their captain (rather than just a nuggety back pocket) - - there should be no issues about his 'status' as a leader within that club environment. So - it's a bit of a gamble - - and you hope it's not a decision too much weighted on the side of a percieved PR benefit within the Brisbane market of the profile of MIchael Voss.
Justin
Guest
I think it s a massive gamble by Brisbane and certainly the process of his appointment was very poor. Now or never? Crap. He could have gone to West Coast and learned a thing or 2 about coaching. We all know that all coaches get sacked so there is always an opportunity somewhere. Voss' continued toing and froing over the past few years has been embarrassing. He has treated clubs with arrogance and contempt, teasing them before pulling out. Good luck to him if he succeeds but I have my doubts. There are many more people qualified to cach the Lions than Voss and thats a fact.
Spiro Zavos
Expert
Generally, great players don't make great coaches in most sports. My belief is that this is because great players often don't understand how much a struggle good play is for most other players. It will interesting to see whether Michael Voss can emulate the great Ron Barassi and Leigh Mathews to have an outstanding coaching career.