There’s a “sense of inevitability” around Michael Voss’ Blues future as they were haunted by the same problem again. But Carlton’s issues may run deeper than Voss.
Plus West Coast’s giant step backwards, calls for honesty on the bizarre Brisbane whiteboard saga, and much more in Foxfooty.com.au’s Round 8 Talking Points!
WHAT’S GAMBLING REALLY COSTING YOU? Set a deposit limit. For Free and confidential support call 1800 858 858 or visit gamblinghelponline.org.au.
Watch every match of every round of the AFL Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
‘SENSE OF INEVITABILITY’ WITH VOSS IN ANOTHER BLUES MELTDOWN… BUT THERE’S DEEPER PROBLEMS
There’s a “sense of inevitability” around Michael Voss’ future after Carlton fell victim to another second-half meltdown.
The 1-7 Blues again faded badly in the second half against St Kilda on Saturday night including a 42-point swing in the third term alone.
Carlton is now +65 in first halves and -242 in second halves in 2025 in a stark drop off that keeps happening over and over.
It even extends to beyond this season; the Blues on 11 occasions have led at half-time and lost since the start of 2025.
“It’s the same old story for Carlton, really,” chief Herald Sun reporter Jay Clark said on Fox Footy.
“You get the sentiment that fans are starting to get a bit frustrated with this.
“The second halves they’ve been putrid all year. There were some shoulders slumped out there. It was a capitulation in the midfield in particular.
“The coach, Michael Voss, I think there’s a sense of inevitability around here … I’m not expecting him to be the coach next year.
“I don’t feel like they’re going to be making a knee-jerk reaction on the back of this one performance. But it would be crystallising in their mind that this footy club needs to go in a new direction.
“I feel like they need a fresh voice and a new leader.”
Michael Voss’ fate looks certain. (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
So when could a change be coming?
Carlton’s fixture doesn’t get any easier. The club has upcoming clashes against Brisbane (Gabba), Western Bulldogs (Marvel Stadium), Port Adelaide (Adelaide Oval), Geelong (MCG) and Essendon (MCG) ahead of its Round 14 bye.
That mid-season bye stands as the “natural” time for the club to review its entire operation including the position of Voss, who was retained last year despite coming under intense scrutiny.
Though Clark suggested Blues chief executive Graham Wright would already be assessing new coaching candidates in the background.
“Let’s be honest, you’d think Graham Wright would be beginning the search and the hunt for the new coach of the Carlton Football Club. That work, I’d imagine, would already be underway,” he continued.
“The writing is on the wall, it’s inevitable what’s going to happen.
“We’ve seen at the Melbourne Football Club what change can bring; new optimism, new game style, new hope.
“I’d expect it to go down that path … the Carlton Football Club made the big call to keep Michael Voss last year and it hasn’t worked.”
Silvagni emotional after Carlton matchup | 01:41
The dismissal of a coach is something no one should take any sort of pleasure in.
But Blues fans are already voting with their feet, with a capacity crowd at Marvel Stadium rapidly emptying out during St Kilda’s second-half domination.
And those boos for ex-Blues Jack Silvagni and Tom De Koning suddenly turned to cheers.
“It’s alarming scenes. We’re here live and you see the crowd dwindle by 20,000 to 30,000 in the space of 20 minutes,” triple premiership Tiger Jack Riewoldt sad.
“They see the people walking out, they see the people obviously frustrated with the brand of footy they played. You see it time and time again.
“When does it stop? When do they cut ties (with Voss)? Because at the moment on field performance is not up to scratch and now the fans are leaving in droves.
“They are worrying signs.”
Voss was as frustrated as we’ve seen him post match.
The embattled coach put the acid on his team’s lack of defensive intent, blatantly conceded his midfield was beaten and bemoaned a general lack of improvement in a shift towards the running game.
It was almost as if he realised, in that press conference, he had passed the point of no return.
‘We need to change as a footy team’ | 10:35
Regardless of what comes of Voss, Kangaroos champion David King thinks there’s a leadership void that leaves the Blues wanting.
“With the exception of Nic Newman, I couldn’t name you a player that really stands up under genuine heat,” he said.
“Who actually creates a moment and action that will stop the rot?
“Adam Cerra just lets it go on, Sam Walsh lets it go on. They’re as much as the sickness, as the cure.
“Patty Cripps we talk about all the time and I feel sorry for Patty Cripps to have to be the front of all this feedback. But he didn’t have the game he wanted.
“That’s not him. It’s too strong to say he looks a broken man, but he looks a shell of what he can be.
“I just wonder where the next level of leadership comes from? Is it as far away as Harry Dean? Who’s five minutes at the footy club.
“Who are those entering leaders? I don’t see them emerging, that’s my biggest worry.
“You can do what you want with Michael Voss, but who’s really going to grab this club by the throat and say: ‘Hey, this is where we’re going’.”
King thinks Carlton has ultimately “lost pride” in the way it pays and how it allows teams to go on “five, six, seven-goal runs without any resistance”.
“It’s the eighth time it’s happened for the year they’ve had a five-plus run against them,” King added.
“That to me is not system or talent — it’s not wanting to have that moment where you stand up for your footy club.
“Until you get that back, you’re going nowhere.”
Silvagni emotional after Carlton matchup | 01:41
Riewoldt suggested the over-reliance on skipper Cripps from a leadership perspective is “a product of Carlton for the last five years” in an area they’ve been “Cripps or bust”.
“He’s not the two-time Brownlow medallist he was two or three years ago when he was an absolute champion of this game,” Riewoldt added.
“The weight of the world is on his shoulders at the moment and that lever of Cripps just isn’t working anymore.
“Maybe they haven’t valued the leadership underneath him and that is showing clearly that they don’t have a second set of emerging leaders behind him.
“How many times was Tom De Koning hit before the first bounce tonight? Not one player went up and bumped him … not one player laid a hand on him.
“I reckon that’s a clear sign of where this group is at.”
‘ON THEM’: GREAT CALLS FOR LIONS TO ‘OWN UP’ TO WHITEBOARD DRAMA
Brisbane flexed its muscles in a powerhouse performance against Essendon.
But the game was largely marred by the Lions’ whiteboard drama after a leaked photo exposed notes on the club’s opposition analysis of Essendon players.
Brisbane coach Chris Fagan fumed at the Auskick father that leaked “private information” of an “illegally took photo” and suggested it was “unfair” to scrutinise the Lions for it.
Cutting Brisbane Lions whiteboard leaked | 01:59
The dual premiership coach said he’d now reconsider whether the club should invite external people into its four walls, like the Auskick clinic that opened Brisbane up to the scenario.
However an AFL great says Fagan and the Lions have to take some ownership for the matter.
While Lions CEO Sam Graham apologised to Bomber chief Tim Roberts in the aftermath, Kangaroos champion David King says it’s largely on Brisbane for exposing itself to such a situation.
“It’s on them,” King said on Fox Footy.
“If you’re going to write that sort of thing on a whiteboard and leave it there and have that potentially happen. Look, it’s a one in a million, but it’s happened.
“You’ve got to own up and put your hand up and cop what comes.
“It’s OK for ‘Fages’ to fire back at that individual for taking the photo. But that information was left there laying around, that’s on (Brisbane).”
Dunkley addresses whiteboard leak | 01:40
The most controversial element of the whiteboard, the Lions citing ex-teammate Jaxon Prior’s girlfriend Bronte as his lone “strength”, was firmly defended by Fagan.
“I’m happy for you to go and ask Jaxon what he thinks,” he said.
“The players all know him and we know his partner as well. There was nothing bad intended at all with that comment. Zero.
“It’s disappointing we’re sitting in here talking about this after a game of football today, honest to goodness, private information.
“You guys wouldn’t even know about it if that guy hadn’t of done what he did.”
Fagan blasts fan who leaked photo | 07:19
‘THAT’S A REACH’: DEBATE OVER TIGER TRIUMPH
Richmond fans rightfully rejoiced after the club’s first win since Round 19 last year – also coming against West Coast.
It’s been a dismal start to the year with regards to availability, with 16 players on the injury list going into Saturday afternoon – and ballooning to 17 after Dion Prestia’s calf setback.
Yet a battling Richmond unit went into Optus Stadium and palmed off the Eagles to put an end to the disheartening stretch.
Swans great Gerard Healy went as far as to declare on Saturday’s broadcast that “given the injuries they’ve sustained, this has got to be one of the greatest wins in the Tigers’ history”.
And triple Richmond premiership star Jack Riewoldt, who’d been one of the club’s harshest critics to begin the year, poured praise over coach Adem Yze.
“I’m rapt for him. I made the comment a couple of weeks ago that I didn’t know where they had improved under Yze, and what sort of brand of football they were playing, but today, we saw 2026 football,” he said on Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live.
“We saw a young football club under a lot of injury pressure actually stand up away from home. It’s amazing what an away trip can do for you.
“They just looked quick. The question I’ve been asking is ‘where has this been?’”
The Tigers snapped their 12-game losing streak on Saturday in Perth. (Photo by Paul Kane/Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Noah Balta, Jack Ross and Seth Campbell led the visitors’ charge, with Riewoldt labelling Balta’s ruck move – which initially came on Anzac Eve against Melbourne – a “masterstroke”.
The long-time swingman went forward and kicked three goals along with his 20 disposals, while the work of dynamic half-forward Seth Campbell was also highlighted – in particular a key passage of play early in the final term which ended with him nailing a long-range goal.
Campbell, who’d trekked all the way back into defence, burst forward once the Tigers won the ball back, and after a 75-metre sprint finally got on the end of Richmond’s handball chain and set sail from 55 metres out.
The livewire finished as the game’s second-highest rated player with three goals and nine score involvements from 17 disposals.
“He exploded onto the scene last year … this man’s work rate and what he does as a half-forward – he’s been down over the first eight weeks, but this is what he does; this is 2026 football, and this is exactly what Richmond needs to see in the future,” Riewoldt said.
Of the win in totality, Riewoldt added: “I think the coaches would be looking at it going ‘this is the brand of footy that can stack up and take this club back up the ladder’.”
But while Riewoldt declared the Tigers had taken “a big step forward”, dual North Melbourne premiership player David King was quick to disagree.
“They didn’t take a big step forward. I think that’s a reach,” he said on Fox Footy on Saturday.
“I think they should have been playing this style of football for weeks. Welcome to 2026, Richmond. Where’s this been?”
Tigers end dire 12-game losing streak | 01:23
The Tigers entered Saturday’s clash with West Coast as one of the two worst handballing sides in the competition – and if we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that the high-handball game has been conducive to more efficient ball movement.
Further, Richmond’s midfield “gumboot brigade” has been a gripe of King’s this year, and while Prestia’s injury is disappointing, it forced Yze and company to start getting creative.
“Prestia got injured early, which is really sad, but they had to change the mix in the middle. They got some speed in there,” King said.
“We’ve been crying out for Richmond to put some speed in their midfield for two and a half months.
“So, this is what they can do. This is not a revelation … I think they’ve been poor in the first six, seven weeks … so, I don’t see it that way.”
It sparked some debate between King and the Tigers champion.
Riewoldt replied: “That is why it is a big step forward for them, because they’ve been so poor … I think Richmond people would have been staring down the barrel, going ‘this might be our last chance to have a win this season’.”
King retorted: “I don’t see it that way, that this is their last chance to have a win. They’re better than they’ve been playing, do you not concede that?”
Riewoldt said: “I think they can play a lot better than how they’ve played, that’s why it’s frustrating and has been frustrating for Richmond people.”
King finished: “That’s my point. So, this is a benchmark for me. This is a benchmark system game, and a benchmark effort game.”
Yze reacts to 1st win of 2026 | 09:55
Yze said post-match that what unfolded at Optus Stadium on Saturday had been weeks in the making.
“I had a lot of belief in what we had been doing, the last few weeks … we just hadn’t been able to sustain it for a full four quarters,” he said.
“Even last week, for three quarters we were right in the game against a really strong team (Melbourne).
“Obviously, really proud of the group. We’re dealing with a fair bit off the field with availability and things like that. This would easily be one of the best wins I’ve been involved in, because of that.”
WOEFUL WEAGLES PUTTING PRESSURE ON COACH
There was something sadly ironic about Saturday for West Coast.
Up in the stands they were celebrating the 20th anniversary of the glorious 2006 premiership, with club greats and officials coming from across the country.
And it made plenty of sense to do it against Richmond – rather than, say, Sydney – given the increased chances of celebrating while watching a win.
A win that would’ve effectively ensured they can’t win the wooden spoon, given the Eagles would’ve been three wins clear of a Tigers side that hadn’t gotten close to a first win since Round 1 against Carlton.
Instead, with an 18-man injury list (including Dion Prestia’s early-game calf concern), Richmond somehow won.
And it means in Perth, the locals are restless.
Andrew McQualter’s Eagles have lost five straight including two by triple-digit margins. (Photo by Daniel Carson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Such is the curse of early-season wins. The Eagles being 2-1, recording upsets over North Melbourne and Port Adelaide which look even better in hindsight, had the massive blue and gold army thinking the dark days were in the past.
After all, the Eagles have been terrible for almost half a decade now – two wins in 2022, three in 2023, five in 2024 but then just one in 2025 once they fully committed to the rebuild process with new coach Andrew McQualter.
Win totals for bad teams are often not reflective of their true quality – the Tigers weren’t four wins better than the Eagles last year, despite winning four extra games; primarily, they got lucky and caught good teams on bad days more often.
So that means when a team wins a couple of games early when they’re widely tipped to win the wooden spoon, as the Eagles did and were, you’re not expecting them to take backwards steps.
Big backwards steps, too, like two 100+ point losses and then whatever Saturday was.
“We’re incredibly clear on our plan and on what we’re doing and the path we’re on,” Eagles coach Andrew McQualter said post-game.
“We’ll have blips over the next little period of time, there’s no question about that.
“I think we saw some pretty good growth signs from some individuals today. You saw Willem’s moment there late in the game (Duursma’s goal in final minutes) – for our fans to see that, that was special.”
But the last five weeks are too big to be described as a blip, and just 31 games into his Eagles coaching career, McQualter is facing serious questions.
McQualter defends side after shock loss | 08:06
“They’ve won one of their last 21 quarters,” David King explained on Fox Footy’s Super Saturday Live.
“At some point – I’m not looking for them to win every week, I’m just looking for them to be competitive in bursts, in small windows. And they’re not there.
“Everyone can say that there’s outs. But that was a winnable game for them today, to actually stamp OK, we are on the right track. And they let it slip.
“So pressure comes with that; continually losing games of footy builds pressure on the coach and the path. Is this the right way forward? Because boards get nervous.
“They’ve got to show us, we’re outside looking in and we don’t see the incremental growth midweek. Right now the two hours we’re judging, they’ve been poor.”
As a whole, sitting 2-6 after eight games is a pretty fair reflection of where West Coast sits, but the trend is not their friend.
A trip east to face the high-scoring Demons is up next, followed by a home clash with the Giants, being the designated victim for Scott Pendlebury’s games record clash at the MCG, and then the big one – the Sunday night standalone spotlight, at home against Essendon.
Few would begrudge the Eagles losing the next three games but if they go from 2-1 to 2-10, with rematches against Port Adelaide and North Melbourne following, the pressure will be intense.
THE BASICALLY-FREE SWANS TRADE THAT’S PAYING BIG DIVIDENDS
If we had predicted coming into the year that Sydney would be flying after eight games thanks to a forward they traded in last off-season, it wouldn’t have sounded particularly bold.
Except we’re not talking about Charlie Curnow. We’re talking about the guy they paid a packet of chips for.
Malcolm Rosas came into this weekend as a top-25 player in the AFL over the past few weeks, according to the AFL Player Ratings, and the No.2 general forward behind only Nick Watson.
He also had the No.1 kick rating in the league… which helps explain him kicking five goals in the first half against Melbourne.
Not bad for a guy they stole from Gold Coast in exchange for a swap of late picks.
Malcolm Rosas celebrates one of his five first-half goals against Melbourne. (Photo by Jason McCawley/AFL Photos/via Getty Images)Source: Getty Images
Rosas and pick 62, in exchange for picks 51 and 69, could be a premiership-defining deal with the new Swan adding even more small forward firepower to a side already featuring long-time star Tom Papley.
Rosas had shown flashes at Gold Coast after being the last pick of the 2019 rookie draft, but ended his career on the coast with 46 goals from 49 games – playing just 11 times in two seasons under Damien Hardwick.
It’s not as if he had been scoring multiple goals a game to begin his Swans career either, but he has added more skill and pace to a side that’s currently leading the AFL ladder thanks to those two traits.
“I’ve loved his craft, to find those little pockets of space to have those three uncontested marks in the forward 50. Yes, the ball movement’s been electrifying at times, but you need to be able to capitalise,” Nick Dal Santo said on Fox Footy during the Swans-Demons clash.
“Seven kicks, five goals straight. It’s the highest-rated opening half by any Swan since 2024 – and you’re thinking about some of those great halves by those individuals like Isaac Heeney and Chad Warner.
“He’s been fantastic but he’s been part of the collective that have moved the ball really well on offence.”
Rosas bags five in stunning first half | 00:42
It had been eight years since a Swan had five goals at half-time, and Rosas is likely to have more staying power than the last.
That was Ben Ronke, who had an all-time night out with seven majors against Hawthorn in his third career game; but he ended up playing only 41 more times in the red and white.
It’s an unfair comparison putting the Rosas swap up against the Curnow trade, but it’s already clear which was the better deal, even if Curnow does end up starring for the Swans for some time.
Nothing beats (basically) free.