A series of frank and “tough” meetings between coach Michael Voss and the leadership group during the mid-season break, according to Carlton vice captain Jacob Weitering, helped turn the Blues into a finals challenger.
The shocking loss to Collingwood on Friday night, which put a cap on an incredible mid-season comeback, is proof of the changes the Blues have experienced as a team.
Voss’ squad had high expectations going into the season and was undefeated in the first month, but a tough stretch caused them to fall into the bottom four, prompting some to wonder if he was the correct coach.
The beginning of Carlton’s comeback, which has produced six straight victories—including the elimination of championship leaders Port Adelaide and the Magpies—was a 10-goal thrashing of Gold Coast in round 14. With St Kilda coming up at Marvel Stadium on Sunday, they are up to sixth in the standings and just two victories away from snapping a ten-year finals drought.
Star defender Weitering, who was among the best for the Blues on Friday, claimed that Voss’ message to him during the mid-season break had been difficult to accept but was accurate.
“I wasn’t playing and leading as well as I could have.” When things aren’t going well as a defender, it’s really easy to slip into that mindset, therefore I was probably more concerned about my opponent,” Weitering admitted to SEN.
My backline coach, Aaron Hamill, once said, ‘It’s not your man, it’s our man.
It just comes down to helping one another out. It’s more important for me to concentrate on improving them as players and teammates than it is to concentrate on improving myself, and that has undoubtedly benefited me. I believe that the leaders have significantly improved our performance by putting the team’s needs ahead of their own. We have the power to drive the system and model the behaviors and activities we desire to see on the field; eventually, they will just become ingrained in us.
“Vossy, he really set the example with those discussions.” They were true, even though some of them were difficult and some of them I didn’t enjoy. It is imperative to commend his leadership and the approach he has taken.
The Blues have been steadfast, according to Voss, the three-time captain of the Brisbane Premiership.
He acknowledged that after the Blues dropped to 15th place with a dismal 4-8-1 record, he was filled with doubts, but he also said that everyone at the team’s response to that hardship was crucial to their current success.
He remarked, “There were a lot of really tough conversations, and there were some tough days.”
There were difficult talks about what clarity we needed to be able to give the players and what we were going to value going ahead, both from the leaders to the players and among us as coaches.
“A football club is behind this movement; it doesn’t only happen on the backs of the players. There were several instances during that time when things could have turned out differently, but we chose not to. We remained united. That tells a lot about our club currently, in my opinion.
A right hamstring injury to midfielder Adam Cerra, who was brilliant with 20 disposals, nine contested possessions and six clearances in less than a half before being substituted out was the only negative aspect of Carlton’s fantastic night.
