CARLTON AFL Senior Coach Michael Voss took to the stage at the 2023 John Nicholls Medal to deliver an impassioned speech about the 2023 season, the way forward and the origins behind Stronger Together.

This is what he had to say in its entirety.

Good evening everyone. Thank you for joining us here tonight.

Just before we get into the night itself, I just wanted to extend acknowledgments to our past players who are in the room tonight. It is fantastic to see you guys right throughout the year: your presence is always welcome at our Club. It’s great to see you all, plus our AFLW coaches and players — I did see a few around here earlier. I haven’t seen ‘Bucky’ as of yet, but if you’re here mate, well done and congratulations on the year so far. You’re doing a fantastic job.

Tonight is the players’ night. The chance to celebrate the award winners, the chance to reflect on our season and the moments that mattered the most. It’s also a chance to acknowledge some people that have been extremely important to us. On behalf of our GM of Football Brad Lloyd and I, we’d like to extend some thank yous.

Our Co-Major sponsors Hyundai and Great Southern Bank, our Platinum, Gold and Official partners, and a shoutout to our Coaches’ sponsor, OnTime. Terry, I haven’t seen you here tonight, but I appreciate all the messages throughout the year. It mattered.

To the 95,000-plus members. Thank you very much. Your noise is well and truly heard. The Carlton community is growing very, very fast and we appreciate your support. 

To President Luke Sayers and CEO Brian Cook, I want to thank you for the confidence and unwavering support you gave our people and our football program. Your leadership throughout was exceptional. There were plenty of Sunday and Monday calls and messages as we worked together through our most challenging time. Our Board - David, Laura, Patty, ‘Diesel’, Rob and Tim - thank you for creating the stability we so desperately needed. The escalation of improvement is due to your steady hand and collective patience.

To the coaches and support team that have been on this journey with us. This is a period of time that you should be extremely proud of. A thank you just doesn’t seem enough. I could name every single one of you and express our gratitude to you and your tireless efforts to create an environment that brings out the best in our people. You were calm, consistent, connected and relentless throughout.

To our leadership group, to ‘Weiters’, ‘Crippa’ and ‘Walshy’. Under your leadership, I know we’ll never settle for just being good. You only want great things for this club, and with the extended leadership team, you showed a willingness to take ownership of the problem and solve it together with your teammates. 

To the players, well done on the courage to persist, to keep getting better and more importantly, keep sticking together. 

To those departing, we extend our best wishes to all of you and our gratitude. To Lochie O’Brien, Sam Philp and Josh Honey, good luck boys on what you do next. To our retiring players, Lachie Plowman and Ed Curnow, we’re acknowledging them a bit later. We wish you all the best in the future, good luck — those team meetings won’t be the same without you!

It’d be remiss of us - on behalf of the entire football department - not to thank our partners and our families. They ride the rollercoaster with us, they’re our much-needed confidants and support crew that see the best and the very worst of us. We also welcome to the Carlton family Ruby Docherty, Rosie Martin, Hamish McGovern, Flynn Hansen and Rafferty Tardif — may there be many father-sons and father-daughters amongst them all.

I would also like to thank our award winners who have more recently been acknowledged for some of their achievements.

The Jim Stynes Community Award going to Sam Docherty: mate, you continue to inspire us. The Coleman Medallist and All-Australian, Charlie Curnow. The Gary Ayres Award for the best AFL finals player, Sam Walsh. And our Rising Star nominee this year, Ollie Hollands. A big congratulations to all of you, we share in your success.

So, the season.

To describe it, into the storm and out the other side — Stronger Together.

On 30 January this year, our football department arrived on the Sunshine Coast for the first day of our camp. The intent was to help us define what lay ahead and set out what was required in our push to fulfil our ambition. We spent the first night on camp at the cinemas, watching a documentary based on the South African Springboks and their journey 18 months out from the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

It was a powerful insight into the struggles of not only a team, but a country. The deep divide that existed in their past and the challenges that were overcome on their march to World Cup victory. It told a story of racism, poverty and division, but it also told a story of hope, joy and inspiration. It documented the team’s transformation and keeping the main thing as ‘the main thing’ — it inspired a nation.

Every now and then, a script is written with such a compelling storyline that it transcends the achievement. It’s greater than the game.

The resurgence of the Springboks created a movement on a profound scale. It was a movement of hope — the hope for a better future. The Springbok became an important symbol of something to believe in. The coach Rassie Erasmus, the captain Siya Kolisi and player Makazole Mapimpi will have a lasting impact on us.

After their victory, there was an incredible narration by one of the commentators that captured not only the significance of the moment, but the depths of its impact. And I quote:

A country that so desperately needs to smile collective and cohesively has been given an emphatic reason to do so tonight.

A team that inspired surely not one, but many future generations.

A team that has used and celebrates its difference, its diversity, and which has used it as a powerful for success.

A team that is living, breathing proof that in an environment in which many people seek to divide us, we are indeed Stronger Together.

So now you know. The origins of Stronger Together. Set on 30 January 2023: never did we imagine how close that narrative would come to describe our season. At the start, we struggled through victory. The end was a wave of momentum and in the middle, we went into the storm and we came out the other side stronger.

Our struggles, frustrations, anger and separation was overcome by one thing — connection. The collective became contagious. We now take forward with us a stronger sense of perspective and a feel for what we know works and what we know doesn’t. 

We learnt how to win. And boy, we learnt how to fight. The standard we set was our competition.

Five 50-point wins in a row, only the third time ever in AFL/VFL history. Thirteen wins, the first time since 2011. The lowest ladder position to make a prelim since 1945 — just to let you know, we’re not doing that one again! From Round 15, 15th to third: what a journey that was. Six and zero with one draw in games decided by less than 10 points: we kept you on the edge of your seats. Four interstate wins, our most since 2013.

But the true success of our season may be more reflected in what we became more than what we achieved. As we look to keep advancing our Club, we must take forward with us that our team, our community and our family is about uniting people, bringing joy and elevating others.

We have had some breathtaking moments throughout the season, deeds that will be spoken about for years to come. How about those fingertip saves by Blake Acres? What about that final passage of play against Melbourne started by ‘Weiters’? 

But there is one moment that stands out more than any other, and this one was at the Gabba, standing out on the grass at the end of the game. As I stood there, in front of me were the players. They had gathered together and were making a slow walk towards me, taking in the disappointment, the feeling of hurt, or maybe the immediate emotion of feeling so close yet being so far.

Behind me was what felt like an overwhelming expression of gratitude. One of pride. An incredible response from our supporters, from our Club. In that moment, you elevated us. Our uniqueness in the competition is you, and it is now our turn to say thank you.

This moment will remain an important symbol to us, because as a football club, we are done hurting. We have hurt enough, and for way too long. It is time to stay inspired.

We take forward with us a desire and hunger to recognise that the advancement, while impressive, was not enough. We now go in search of what makes us better, and with the continued attitude of earning the right. 

We now have a choice: we can be the hunter, or we can be the prey. The hunter keeps its eyes in. They never lose focus on what’s important, and stays present to the task at hand. They use humility as a superpower and understand that unless we work hard today, there’ll be someone bigger and someone stronger tomorrow. 

We take forward with us the knowledge of what it takes to be at our very best together. The value of doing your job, bringing your strengths and making someone else better. An acknowledgment that the roles that were played, rather than the brilliance displayed, made us better.

We take forward that we must buy into the hardest part of the game, that without contest pressure and relentless approach to get the ball back, then the parts of our game will never show up.

So what do we take with us now? If we take a leaf from the 2023 Grand Finalists and recognise their path to Grand Final day, their path suggests it takes repeated excellence to keep turning up when it counts. Our path suggests we are only just starting. The competition will not step aside.

We start at zero. We stay humble, we stay present.

We close one chapter and we turn the page. The temptation will be to start writing on that page, but the challenge is to leave it unwritten. We hold the pen — we make no assumptions and we make no predictions. Otherwise, we miss all the creativity, we miss all the joy, we miss all the best moments. 

The best part is creating the story and living it, not telling it.

Enjoy the night, thank you for your incredible support, and good luck to all the award winners tonight.