Very few of Voss’ media interviews this year have passed without mention of either the team’s poor performance from 2010 or the situation with full-forward Brendan Fevola.
This constant focus on the negative has often masked what has otherwise been an incredibly productive pre-season for the Club.
Now Voss is looking forward to the team’s actions doing the talking.
“Some of what has been said has certainly stretched the truth, but you expect that when you’re coming off a tough season,” Voss said.
“All we can do as a Club is bide our time and prove ourselves on the main stage.”
“There wouldn’t be a club out there that isn’t talking up their troops. And we’re certainly confident with our group’s capability.”
“But we’re almost done talking now. We just want to get out there and prove ourselves.”
The Lions’ NAB Cup squad will officially be announced on Wednesday afternoon, although Voss hinted that fans will likely see an inexperienced line-up.
“There are a lot of unknowns about our team, and we intend to use them in the NAB Cup,” he told SEN.
“We just can’t keep relying on our more established senior players. We need to find other players to step up.”
“One of the great things that came out of last year was the fact we were able to get games into our younger players. Those guys can now form a nucleus that can carry us for the next ten years.”
Voss also applauded his Club for getting behind the Queensland disaster and wearing a one-off Queensland Spirit guernsey for Friday night’s Flood Relief match.
“It’s a great initiative. There are actually a lot of great things coming from this football club,” he said.
“We really want to thank everyone including our sponsors and fans who have helped raise money for this great cause. I can tell you that it’s already making a huge difference to the people up here.”
“We have seen first-hand how significant the flood devastation has been in Brisbane. Immediately afterwards, I had 15-20 different players knocking on my door asking how the club can contribute.”
“It really breaks down barriers. It has shown that it doesn’t matter who you are, what you do or where you’re from. We are all just citizens in the same community,” he said.
“Hopefully we can use what’s happened as a theme for our season. We will continue to drive that notion of ‘people power’ because we’ve all witnessed the difference it can make.”
