Voss made a huge mistake with controversial Fevola | Thebigtip

By Luke Darcy at AFL.com.au

MICHAEL Voss appears to be coaching in a similar vein to the way he played: aggressive, bold, and in-your-face. He has always struck me as someone who is not easily influenced by what other people think.

With the introduction of two new teams compromising the draft for at least the next five seasons, clubs have tended to approach the trade period with extreme caution. Vossy chose a different path, as he often did as a player, and went berserk.

It was an enormous decision to trade Lachie Henderson and pick 12 to Carlton for Brendan Fevola and pick 27. Andrew Raines, Xavier Clarke, Amon Buchanan, Brent Staker and Matt Maguire were all added to the list, and many eyebrows were raised at the high risk involved in the strategy.

Will history show that Vossy was innovative and courageous, or foolish and naïve? Top of the ladder after four wins in the first month, including a combined 32 goals 22 points from Fevola and Brown, it was looking like genius. But one win from the following 10 games has been disastrous.

Predictably, questions are being asked of Voss and it will be interesting to watch him deal with a level of scrutiny he has never encountered before.

Of these questions, the selection of Fevola will be the most talked about and hotly debated. Fev is giving the Lions an almost identical package to the one he gave the Blues, both on and off the field. Plenty of goals - 42 after 14 rounds - and some of the best individual highlights of the year.

But like at Carlton, his body language and team-pressure efforts have, at times, been woeful. On this, Vossy has seen fit to publicly express his displeasure on more than one occasion.

Continue reading AFL