{"id":665615,"date":"2026-05-12T08:22:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:22:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/665615\/"},"modified":"2026-05-12T08:22:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-12T08:22:11","slug":"michael-voss-interview-after-departing-as-carlton-blues-coach-interview-with-damian-barrett-press-conference-was-he-sacked-reaction-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/665615\/","title":{"rendered":"Michael Voss interview after departing as Carlton Blues coach, interview with Damian Barrett, press conference, was he sacked, reaction, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Carlton head coach Michael Voss has spoken for the first time since his departure from the club on Tuesday morning,<\/a> revealing he is already \u201cat peace\u201d with his exit.<\/p>\n

In a 40-minute one-on-one chat with veteran journalist Damian Barrett, the Blues mastermind detailed the processes that led to him stepping aside from the role after 103 games at the helm across four and a half seasons.<\/p>\n

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.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Voss\u2019 decision comes after a tumultuous start to the final year of his contract, with the Blues losing eight of their first nine games.<\/p>\n

The three-time Brisbane premiership player and five-time All-Australian did not front traditional media at Ikon Park on Tuesday afternoon,<\/a> with Blues President Rob Priestley, club football boss Chris Davies and chief executive Graham Wright instead taking close to half an hour of questions.<\/p>\n

However, Voss told all that same afternoon to AFL Media in an extensive chat at Marvel Stadium.<\/p>\n

‘A pretty sh*** position’ | 13:03<\/p>\n

MORE COVERAGE:<\/p>\n

\u2018NEEDED A CIRCUIT-BREAKER\u2019: Blues explain Voss call as \u2018pivotal\u2019 exit detail revealed<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018CAREER SUICIDE\u2019: Brutal verdict on Blues coaching vacancy, list changes in call for radical move<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2018DECENT ENOUGH RUNWAY\u2019: Wright\u2019s bold Voss claim… and calculated response to rebuild question<\/a><\/p>\n

23BLUES COACH CANDIDATES: Flag-winners, wildcards and emerging stars ready to be unleashed<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m at peace with it. I\u2019ve had a few days to think about it, and then get the final pieces of the puzzle,\u201d Voss began.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s one thing in knowing it, but it\u2019s another thing saying it. Today, obviously you get to say it<\/p>\n

\u201cI did (speak to the players) a couple of times (today) … I think the big thing with everything, is it\u2019s always about people for me. It always has. The job that you do is about moments, and sharing memories, and obviously the highs of the four points, the big wins, some of the premierships and finals that you win.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were under a lot of duress at times, but you stick together as a group and you form a lot of memories. Talking to those people is tough when you\u2019ve had four or five years where you\u2019ve worked so close together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Multiple reports on Tuesday after the major announcement have suggested that Voss\u2019 exit had been in motion for at least a few days, a narrative he confirmed.<\/p>\n

The 50-year-old is managed by his close friend Peter Blucher, who he says he sat down with in Brisbane ahead of their clash with the reigning premiers last Friday night to affirm his belief that now was the right time for him to depart.<\/p>\n

Josh Fraser named Blues interim coach | 00:36<\/p>\n

\u201cI caught up with him on the Friday morning, and we\u2019d briefly had a chat the day before. I\u2019d just been feeling that particularly the last week that it was time,\u201d Voss revealed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy that conversation was important, was because I didn\u2019t want the result (against Brisbane) to really be the emotional or acute response to change my opinion or mind. I was hoping for a miracle on grass too there at one stage, but didn\u2019t quite pull one off!<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you won under those circumstances, and it\u2019s all hypothetical, you think maybe you hang a little bit longer. But, I didn\u2019t want the game to do that. If I was feeling that, which was really the first time I had felt that … I was getting to the point where a decision sort of had to be made.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a coffee with Blucher in the morning, and it got activated pretty quick. I talked to Chris Davies soon afterwards, and then soon wheels got put in motion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Voss noted that discussions in the week prior with the likes of Priestley and Davies didn\u2019t really suggest the axe would fall on him, though their silence on some fronts he felt were indicative of an \u201cinevitable\u201d end. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think your read in these situations is often what they don\u2019t say, not what they do say. And I read enough into what they didn\u2019t say to know that it was on shaky ground. The inevitable was starting to become clearer, but the fighter and competitor in you wants to take that as far as you possibly can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think during the week last week was the first time I sat with the result the week before (14-point loss to Fremantle), and thought about were the group was at, where the club currently was, and maybe where they needed to go. Thinking about that more deeply and reflecting, I felt like it was time to elevate those conversations.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been really privileged to coach this football club. There\u2019s no animosity here, there\u2019s no anger. I\u2019m at peace with the decision.<\/p>\n

Cripps breaks silence after Voss exit | 02:47<\/p>\n

Voss was, and is still is widely considered one of the league\u2019s most physically and mentally tough figures to ever endure the game, after 289 games as a player before stepping into the coaching realm.<\/p>\n

Quizzed by Barrett as to whether or not the scrutiny he has faced leading towards his departure had compressed him, the mastermind said its impact was one he simply \u201ccouldn\u2019t explain\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I can\u2019t explain, is a lot of that has not impacted me as much as maybe what people see. You\u2019re always getting people reaching out and checking in, and honestly, I\u2019m fine until they check in \u2014 and then I need to check in whether I\u2019m actually okay,\u201d Voss said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really do believe that how you show up, it\u2019s on you. I\u2019ve always taken great pride in before you walk through the door, you reflect on yourself as a leader and what you want to impact today.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve never wanted to ever hand my emotions to somebody else, I just don\u2019t believe in that. We get to determine how we show up. What someone says about me shouldn\u2019t alter my emotion or approach.\u201d<\/p>\n

MORE TO COME…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former Carlton head coach Michael Voss has spoken for the first time since his departure from the club…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[321445,638,64,63,689,55,639,321443,651,3239,11387,78976,85314,40820,13657,40816,321420,321442,25532,321444,168801,96906,3257,27243,677,7800,8016,701,321378,232383,1138,22401,321446,85,13125],"class_list":["post-665615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-acute-response","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-blues-star-trio","tag-brisbane","tag-carlton-blues","tag-chief-executive","tag-chris-davies","tag-club-football","tag-coaching-vacancy","tag-damian-barrett","tag-emerging-stars-ready","tag-exit-detail","tag-final-pieces","tag-graham-wright","tag-interim-coachwith","tag-josh-fraser","tag-list-changes","tag-michael-voss","tag-multiple-reports","tag-oceania","tag-patrick-cripps","tag-premiership-player","tag-queensland","tag-radical-move","tag-robert-priestley","tag-sam-walsh","tag-senior-coach","tag-sharing-memories","tag-sports","tag-veteran-journalist"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}