“Some people say that adversity is one of the virtues you need to become an elite footballer. Well, we’re getting it in spades right now.”
“But what you also need to have to become an elite footballer is a means to be able to get through it. One of my responsibilities is to teach the group how to do that.”
“Our younger players are being forced to mature quickly because the heat’s on. How we stand up through this period will also show a lot about our Club. I believe there is a strong resolve within this Club.”
“One of the really strong binding experiences you can have with any group is to go through a tough period together. When you go through that period you learn more about one another. You also get to understand that you can rely on each other.”
“Your memories don’t always come from the good times - and I’ve been fortunate enough to have some good times as a player. Some of your strongest memories come from your darkest times. If that’s what we need to go through to be successful, then so be it. But we still need to get through it.”
“We need to do it now - not next week or the week after. We have to start showing some resolve. It’s all words until we actually get out there and play on Saturday - that’s when we need to prove our worth.”
Voss on the team’s current form
“We have a great challenge in front of us. The past 11 or 12 weeks have been very inconsistent between games and within games.”
“I thought we played well last week against St Kilda, but we weren’t able to follow that performance up when the opposition came at us.”
“I thought we had prepared well and we’ve certainly been training very well, but when it really counted we couldn’t put our foot down.”
“We have to trust in all the work we’ve been putting in on the track. The players have been proactive in a number of areas, but there are still a number of fundamental things that we need to be able to do like winning one-on-one contests. When it’s game day and the pressure is on, we need to survive that. At the moment we’re not doing that to a sufficient standard.”
“The opposition is doing what they want to us at different times and that’s never pleasing to see.”
Voss on possible changes to the side
“There will be changes. Absolutely there will be changes. We’ll look at the team and make that assessment later in the week.”
“But I’m not into giving away games for the sake of it. You have to earn the opportunity to play AFL and I think it’s important in a players’ development that they learn how to do that.”
“I’m more willing to persist with the guys who have worked really hard to get there and reach that senior level - even if they have fallen over once or twice - rather than guys who probably haven’t earned that right in the first place and we select them purely because we just want to get games into them. I just don’t see the purpose of doing that.”
“But that’s also on the proviso that the players currently in the team are doing their job and I can’t confidently say that they’re doing that at the moment.”
“We’re getting some good individual efforts, but we need to get enough from other players who are ready to get on board and compete. We’ll keep trying to find players who want to do that.”
“Players that will come into strong consideration include Ryan Harwood, Albert Proud and Aaron Cornelius. Xavier Clarke is probably the other one I would nominate if he was available. Cheynee Stiller is also playing well and has shown that willingness to fight for a spot.”
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