AS THEY approach Round 11, Senior Coach Michael Voss was firm that Carlton are firing up for a clash with the Giants on Saturday afternoon.

After a disappointing outing against Sydney, Voss said his team need to get back to their best and play their way if they were to make a lasting impact on the 2025 season. 

Here's what he had to say: 

On Ange Postecoglou's Europa League win with Tottenham:

"I think everyone has bought into his story, certainly I have. I was in a fortunate position to see where their season was through the start of their season and some of the challenges he was facing and also the transformation he was trying to create at the football club.

"When you see how he’s persisted through that and faced some real big challenges, and yet been so forthright with his vision and where he wants to take things, it’s a real acknowledgement for him as a coach, it’s an acknowledgement for the players and the coaches as well. 

"The fact that he’s a Carlton supporter as well only reinforces the message, but his story and his coaching journey, what he’s been able to do at that club under a serious amount of heat has been particularly impressive."

On the parallels between Tottenham and Carlton: 

"It probably puts into context the enormity of the job that you do have and the level of persistence it takes to experience the ultimate.

"If anything, you walk away and you almost are doubling down on the things you think are right and that will hold you in good stead.

"When things aren’t working, it only reinforces your program, the things in it, the type of things you’re trying to achieve in your list build, your style and the way you want to play and understand that results may not necessarily always be going your way but through that persistence and determination to be able to lock into what you believe is right is critically important.

"He’s proven that over time... it’s about persistence, modelling the right things, and if you have a belief, keep getting after it. It really doesn’t matter what other people say, it’s about what we think and we believe, and we have to make sure we have a job to get out there and execute it right."

On Elijah Hollands: 

"I mean we have one hand on Lij’s shoulder, helping him guide through some challenges that he’s got.

"This was never going to be linear, we knew these challenges were going to be taken on over time so the decision was made to make sure he gets that rest he needs and we don’t have a timeline on it.

"Whatever time is needed is the time he’ll take. When he comes back into our program, we’ll support him and provide him with the environment where we can get the best out of him."

On mental health awareness within the Club: 

"We talk about identity a lot: this is what we do but it’s not who we are. When we can get into that place where we’re really comfortable with that, that’s when we get the best version of ourselves.

"Sometimes you go through tough times to do that, that’s why you value the really good ones when they come. All those sorts of experiences that you go through to find out about yourself and what you believe in.

"As a performer, you can go out there really comfortably, that if someone judges me, I’m okay with that and I know the person I am and I’m willing to back that in and you can put it in its place and move onto the next task in front of you. That’s what we want to try and reinforce for our players."

On Harry O'Farrell's debut: 

"The story of Harry: He’s a well-liked individual, he’s pretty quiet about his business, but he’s been impressive.

"His development over such a short period of time has been impressive, particularly the last three weeks.

"He’s worked with Tom Lonergan and Aaron Hamil who are great mentors for him. He’s got great mentors in Nick Haynes and Mitch McGovern and Jacob Weiteing who have been helping him out as well.

"He’s a great mover, very efficient, god, I wish I looked like that when I ran, looks so effortless. He’s brave in the air, he’s got great speed, good kick, I think Carlton people will be excited by this man for years to come."

On channelling last week's frustration into positives: 

"The 'pissed off' came from taking moments and we didn’t take enough. That’s probably been somewhat the story of our year so far is that we’ve talked about modelling behaviour.

"There’s a product that’s really powerful there and we’ve played 10 rounds and it’s shown in almost every game bar one, that we’ve got a model there that’s works strongly but we need to make sure that we continue to play our role and value the right things.

"We have to take those moments, even when we do have that momentum or not. We’ve got to take our moments better and take off the moments off the position when they get their turn."

On Toby Greene: 

"That sounds really simple, doesn’t it? Stop Toby Greene. He’s a fair player and has been over time, I think we all admire Toby’s edge that he’s bought to his game, I think he declares that he doesn’t always get that right but that’s the nature of how he’s led that football club and how he’s played his football.

"He’s going to be a very important player for them, as you said, they are missing some guys out there, but they do have an enormous amount of talent on their list,t so the next man comes in to get the job done.

"I’d imagine that they would have expectations that the next person in can do a great job.

"I know the man at the front of that is going to want to do really well, particularly in a milestone game.

"That’s the challenge for us, the challenge back is to ensure that we play that powerful game we’re after and that we play with that edge that we need to, and we play for 120 minutes."

On Patrick Cripps: 

"You get stuck between the criticism of ‘we’re a one-man band’ and then as soon as a few others start joining him, it’s ‘he’s not doing good enough’. I’ll take the shared load version, I’ll take the leader who is willing to step back to allow others to step up and I think we’ll ultimately be a better product because of it.

"He’s still playing pretty handy, but the benefit we’ve got is that our midfield has been very serviceable for the first half of the year. Good to have King [De Koning] back this week, he gives us a point of difference. 

"He’s been through enough to know what he needs to value as a leader, and his goals are very simple ones, and they’re all about the team and where we need to go and what we need to participate in.

"We need to have an impact in this season, and that’s what we’ve got our eyes locked in on, and that’s what we’re locked in on this game. It’s an important one."

On Robert Walls' funeral service: 

"It was good to be able to see so many familiar faces. Magic McLean almost got me when he got up and had a chat and spoke about Wallsy.

"What you saw was the hard edge of Wallsy, but also the really caring nature that he was as a person. He’s been an extremely important person at this Club, there are so many good stories to tell.

"I was lucky enough to catch up with a few people and talk with some Carlton people and some Brisbane, and the stories told and the sprays we got.

"You can fill 10 chapters, it was a really nice moment to reflect on a man who’s genuinely had an impact on all of us."