Carlton’s Michael Voss and Fremantle’s Justin Longmuir have each found themselves at a crossroads this year.
Longmuir’s came back in Round Eight, when his side was unexpectedly and disastrously pummelled by a struggling St Kilda outfit.
Voss’ turn has come in the past fortnight, with a shock loss to North Melbourne, followed by an insipid and, frankly, embarrassing defeat to Port Adelaide.
Each of these head coaches were presented with a fork in the road after suffering beatings from bottom eight sides, but it appears they’ve taken two very different directions.
Longmuir’s men responded from their Saints debacle by winning five of their next six games, with the sole loss a close (albeit disappointing) result against the ladder-leading Magpies.
Unfortunately for Voss, a similar U-turn doesn’t seem to be forthcoming.
My inspiration for writing this column came after Carlton’s woeful trip to Adelaide Oval, specifically from the Blues coach’s press conference.
In what I can only assume irritated his club’s supporters to no end, Voss was quick to point out that his side was actually improving in their statistical rankings (did he watch the game?).
But it was the categories themselves that started me heading down this line of thinking.
He talked about how Carlton had vastly improved their work forward of centre, their transition from offence to defence, their inside 50 numbers.
All of them offensive stats. All of them about putting a score on the board (which is odd given the Blues haven’t scored more than 90 points since Round Seven, and are averaging 74 points since the bye in games against Essendon, West Coast, North, and Port).
It’s a glimpse into what the club values, which is offence over defence.
And this brings me back to Longmuir and his Dockers.
This week, in the lead up to a rematch with the Saints, two-time All-Australian defender Luke Ryan has spoken about how his side needed to get back to their defensive identity following their nightmare at Marvel.
He mentioned the team had been focused too much on scoring and transition, and not enough on getting down in the mud and doing what it takes to stop the opposition hanging points on you.
This is an identity Longmuir has instilled in the group since day one, and it sounds as though they strayed from the path early in the season in the hunt for a couple extra goals.
Since regaining that identity (a feat made more impressive by the absence of skipper Alex Pearce), the Dockers have rocketed up the ladder and are back in the hunt for a high finish.
So there it is. Two coaches with their careers on a knife’s edge, but with two very different strategic outlooks on how to respond.
I suppose my point here is that Voss and his Blues could learn a thing or two from how Fremantle responded to their own crisis. Instead of checking the stat sheet to talk about your ball movement, roll up your sleeves and get to work defensively.
The amount of uncontested marks the Blues have given up over the past fortnight is unacceptable, and the missed tackles are atrocious.
I mean seriously, it’s witches hats stuff out there right now. Playing against Carlton has become the most bruise-free assignment in footy.
If the Blues really want to make a change, if they really want to see a difference, they’ll dig in and pressure the ball carrier. Like Fremantle have done ever since they plunged into the depths of football hell.
But they won’t.
Instead, they’ll probably sack their coach, hire another half-baked candidate and tell us all how 2026 “is their year”.
It’s the Carlton way.
