Carlton have been questioned over their handling of Michael Voss after the AFL great quit as coach amid a nightmare start to the 2026 season.
Carlton leaders say the club is in a “genuine transition”, but AFL experts, including Kane Cornes, say they put Voss in “a shocking position”.
Out-of-contract at season’s end, Voss decided to move on with the Blues 1-8 and effectively already out of finals contention.
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“Good on him,” Cornes said.
“What a shocking position the club put him in if the reports are to be believed that the club approached Craig McRae to sound out his interests to coach Carlton at the end of last year.
“Once you’re out on the coach, you’re out on the coach. You trade some good players away and invest in the future. Voss was in an impossible situation to have a good year this year with the pieces he was given by the club.
“He has been let down and I do not blame him for one second for having enough, hopefully he can have sometime off and gather his thoughts for what’s next.”
Veteran presenter Gerard Whateley it was a “clear case” of a coach being set up to fail.
“A team deliberately taking steps backwards for the long-term, but with a coach in the final year of his contract fitted up for judgement. It couldn’t work,” Whateley said on SEN.
“A club can’t be half-hearted on its coach. You either believe in him, or you don’t.”
Carlton players and staff were digesting the news on Tuesday morning after arriving at the club.
“Across five seasons, he has invested himself fully in the role and handled himself with impressive character throughout,” Carlton president Rob Priestley said on Tuesday afternoon.
“Ultimately, beyond results alone, we have not seen the intended evolution in our game, and to his credit, Michael acknowledges that now is the right time for the club to move forward under the leadership of a new senior coach.”
Voss is yet to return to Victoria following the match at the Gabba and did not attend the media conference at Ikon Park.
“What you are seeing right now is a football club in genuine transition, and we are not going to shy away from that reality,” Carlton chief executive Graham Wright said.
“Since last year, virtually every senior leadership position has changed.
“No Carlton person is content with where we are at right now and we must demand better of ourselves.
“We will not be taking shortcuts, and we will be moving with real intent and purpose – attacking the draft again this year, marking three consecutive years of accessing elite young talent before Tasmania enters the competition.”
It means Voss’s last game in charge was against his former club the Brisbane Lions, with Carlton fighting hard in the second half for a respectable 11-point loss against the dual reigning premiers last Friday night.
Former Collingwood ruckman Josh Fraser has been confirmed as the club’s interim coach, having re-joined the Blues’ staff ahead of the 2026 season.
Voss coached Carlton 99 times after being appointed for the 2022 season, leading the club to a preliminary final in 2023 — the club’s best result since making the 1999 grand final.
The Blues were still able to reach finals in 2024, but were eliminated in embarrassing fashion in the first week and have won just 10 of 32 matches since the start of 2025.
Carlton sit 16th on the ladder, only ahead of Richmond and Essendon on percentage, as they prepare to face the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Saturday night.
Voss previously coached Brisbane for five campaigns, before he was sacked at the end of 2013.
The 50-year-old spent six seasons as a Port Adelaide assistant and was appointed Carlton coach when the Blues sacked David Teague at the end of 2021.
Voss could end up back in the media, having served as a commentator for two years after he retired from playing in 2006.
He was targeted as a future coach, even before his playing career ended, having captained the Lions to three-straight premierships between 2001 and 2003.
One of the greatest players of the last 30 years, Voss coached 206 times across his stints with Brisbane and Carlton.
The Blues’ last premiership came back in 1995, with the once-powerful club having gone through eight senior coaches this century.
Premiership coaches John Longmire and Adam Simpson were both flagged as potential replacements at Carlton when Voss was in trouble last year.
But the club decided to back Voss into the final year of his contract, despite losing key players Charlie Curnow, Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni during the trade period.
MICHAEL VOSS’S WIN-LOSS RECORD AS AN AFL COACH
* Brisbane Lions (2009-2013): 42-1-64
* Carlton (2022-2026): 47-1-51
– With AAP
