THERE were days when Michael Voss thought it was over.
For eight long years after he was sacked from his position as senior coach of Brisbane, Voss sought second opportunities to lead an AFL side elsewhere. But for eight long years, such opportunities weren't forthcoming.
He hoped, more than expected, to be given that lifeline. But, time after time, the continued reluctance of AFL clubs to hand discarded senior coaches such chances meant the prospect of once again realising his dream faded.
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Voss built his resume undertaking a rigorous stint as a senior assistant under Ken Hinkley at Port Adelaide, helping the side earn the minor premiership in 2020 and successive preliminary final berths in the last two years. In each of the seven seasons he spent at the club, he also worked on improving himself in the hope that eventually an opening would come.
Last September, 2963 days after he left Brisbane, it finally did. The side he had supported as a boy, Carlton, came calling.
Voss had interviewed for the Blues position following the sacking of Brendon Bolton in 2019, only to be pipped at the post by then-interim coach David Teague. It was another of those missed chances that left his hopes flickering.
Since 2010, only Rodney Eade and Brett Ratten had earned a second stint as an AFL coach having previously been sacked. For Voss, after being overlooked for coaching vacancies at St Kilda and North Melbourne, before unsuccessfully interviewing for posts at Carlton in 2019 and Collingwood in 2021, his prospects at the time didn't look good.
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But where a couple of years ago Carlton might have reinforced any lingering doubts about his chances, now the Blues offered him salvation. He jumped at the opportunity to step back into the hot seat, and has a lifetime of learnings ready to apply this time around.
"There were certainly moments where you felt you were close and it got ripped away, and there were certainly plenty of moments where I thought maybe it's just gone," Voss told AFL.com.au in an exclusive interview at Ikon Park this week.
"Maybe, as an industry, we weren't quite ready for the second-time coach who had gone back and had to work on some of his shortcomings and imperfections and went to work on his craft and took his time and hopefully got another opportunity.
"I feel like I'll play an important role in terms of how it's perceived moving forward, and obviously Brett Ratten has been a really important part of that as well. But it's something we should be looking at even more. I know I'm directly involved in it, because it impacts me directly. But as an industry, we certainly shouldn't be closed off to those sorts of opportunities."
So, what more can be done? Overseas in sporting competitions like the NFL, the NBA and the English Premier League, the hiring of recycled coaches is often more common than the appointment of first timers in charge. That's not the case here.
"It's being open to the possibility," Voss said.
"That's where it starts, the acceptance that it's real. There isn't a leadership forum I haven't sat in, or a leadership management course I haven't performed in, that hasn't talked about the evolution of a leader.
"You grow over time. You grow off the things that have gone well for you and you grow off the things that haven't gone so well for you. The biggest learning moments that you get are from when it doesn't work as well as what you think it might. You take that information and you go away and you work on yourself. You try and find a better version of yourself.
"I consider myself a lifelong learner, but I wouldn't put myself alone in that category. There are plenty of others out there with the same approach."
Voss arrived at Ikon Park with plenty of those learnings, all of which he believes have made him that "better version" of himself that he often references. Some, he learnt the hard way during his five years as head coach of Brisbane – the side he captained to three straight premierships as a player in the early 2000s – having been appointed at the tender age of just 34.
The tough lessons he endured late in his Lions career, he believes, are just as important in shaping who he is today as the good memories he harbours from his more recent time with the Power. However, both types will undoubtedly form the coach he hopes to become with the Blues.
"It's incredibly important that we create the right environment," Voss said.
"That's to enable players to get the best version of themselves and be able to go out there and play a style of football where they can completely go about expressing their own strengths and what they bring. That's the more sustainable model, going out there and playing with a genuine purpose and a common cause.
"It's not so much something I've learnt directly at Port Adelaide. But every place you get exposure to and every place you've been a part of, it's a really important criteria to get to where you need to go."
There are already some distinctly Hinkley traits that have been evident within Voss' coaching during his short but promising time at Ikon Park. The former Brownlow Medal winning player has immediately and noticeably entrusted more responsibility to his new group of assistant coaches this summer, a lesson he learnt directly from his former Port Adelaide boss.
Ash Hansen arrived at Carlton from the Western Bulldogs just before Christmas, Aaron Hamill from St Kilda and Tim Clarke from Gold Coast, with each playing a vocal role this pre-season. Voss, meanwhile, has spent several sessions comfortable in observing from afar, only interjecting on certain drills when necessary.
"Ken's been a really important person to me," Voss said.
"He's been an incredible mentor and someone I formed a really strong relationship with over a long period of time. We've agreed on a lot of things and we've disagreed on a lot of things, but we just worked really well together.
"I would say what Ken does exceptionally well is that he trusts the people around him. He knows the strengths that he brings to the table, but he relies on his team of people around him. It's something that, straightaway, I've tried to bring over here.
"I really enjoyed that about my time with Ken, he gave me the room to be able to do things but held me highly accountable at the same time. I thought he did that very, very well."
Voss arrives at a Carlton side in a unique position. Having once again failed to make the finals last year, the Blues hired the 46-year-old with the expectation that he would help the club immediately jump back into the frame for September football under his watch in 2022.
And yet, there is still plenty of work to be done. In his fourth-last game as an assistant coach at Port Adelaide, Voss helped his old Power side pile on 19 consecutive goals against the Blues in a 95-point drubbing.
But if he had any pre-conceived ideas of the players he would soon inherit lingering from that fateful afternoon – or if his playing group harboured any doubts over whether they were good enough to make that jump into the top-eight this season, based on that performance – he quickly set about wiping the slate clean.
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"I spoke to the players on the very first day and said they'll get a new set of eyes," Voss told of his first meeting with his new squad.
"What's been done in the past is, to me, in the past. Any views, opinions or thoughts I had of them individually and of us as a collective in terms of what we're about and what we'll stand for will be formed from this day forward.
"With that set of eyes, I've been really impressed with the players wanting to get better. There's a genuine thirst and hunger there among the group. They want to become better and they've got a clear sight on where they want to go. I've been super impressed by the way they've approached things."
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Voss underwent a long and thorough process of speaking to his playing group individually in his first few days at the club, feeling out where they were in their career development and enquiring about what they felt would be important to move the side forward. From there, he gleaned a better insight into what needed to improve and how quickly that improvement could take place.
The result has been a completely overhauled weekly schedule and list of priorities within the club's home base, with Voss and his coaching staff of the belief that the side is tracking nicely ahead of its blockbuster round one bout with Richmond in a month's time.
So, what can the Blues faithful expect to see under his watch? Having placed an emphasis on a team-first culture since arriving at the club, Voss wants a "fully connected football team" to emerge.
"If one part moves, we all move," he said.
"That's the really big emphasis. People talk about connection and there's a relationship connection that you need to have. That care for each other is extremely important to be able to have.
"If I'm that person in the stands and I'm looking down at the game, I want to see that care that's been displayed among the group. I want to see that totally connected football team that moves both offensively and defensively together.
"That can take some time, to get that to the level you need. But when I watch it back in training – and it's only a small sample size at the moment – we're making some good progress in that area.
"At the same time, we have to respect that the next bit of evidence is playing against someone. We have to play that against some opposition that will try some things differently and challenge our adaptation to moments. We have to be able to adapt, but still get our style back. We haven't been tested in that department yet … but we're looking forward to the opportunity to do it."
So, does that all equate to finals footy in 2022? According to Carlton's 35th senior coach, that's not the be-all and end-all. For him, the first priority is ensuring his fresh new-look group earns the respect of the competition. From there, anything is possible and nothing is off the table.
"I haven't really put anything on it," Voss said.
"That's not to say (finals) wouldn't be an accurate benchmark, I just don't necessarily buy into it. For me, we've put ourselves in a position right now in the pre-season where we've got a hell of a lot of work done. But what we are also is realistic. The next part is about earning respect and earning the right.
"For us to forecast and ask what it's going to look like at the end, it's well ahead of where we probably thought we'd be at. We felt that first part was getting the work done, earning some respect and getting some reliability and consistency in the way that we play.
"If we do that across the whole year, I think we'll know what it will start to look like for us."