“The first thing that comes to mind is he is just a fantastic teammate,” Tudor told AFL.com.au ahead of Fremantle’s clash with Essendon on Thursday night at Optus Stadium.
"Everyone loved playing with him because of that energy he had, and he would bring them along with him, so he was a bit of a go-to for a lot of his teammates for that reason.
"There’s a lot of quiet kids in footy clubs, so for him to be that real extrovert and to use his voice and be confident is a really good attribute to have in the AFL.
"He was always strong and aggressive too, so his teammates walked a bit taller when they played with him.
“He puffs his chest out and he’s doing the same stuff he was doing in the VFL, so it makes me smile every time I watch him.”
Imagine his and Caddys chest bumps, we’d still be losing but that would be fun while it happened.
He has personality we lack that here, Roberts has it as well, it’s why he’s in fights all the time, we need that mongrel as much as we need footballing talent.
I’ve said it before, but it’s not about how good Voss is or isn’t. It’s about what he brings to the table, which is an ingredient we sorely lack. Not every player in a team needs to be a gun, and every player has strengths and weeknesses. Development of a team is as much about finding a balance across all attributes as it is just playing the perceived best player.
Freo see value in Voss’ aggression, and if he can offer something on the scoreboard then he is doing his job and he makes them a better team, makes other players walk taller etc. that’s his strength.
But we only seem to focus on what he can’t do.
My opinion, he is exactly the personality that a young team like us could use on field because he’ll absolutely stand up, get under the skin etc of opposition players. Hell, all our senior players are so devoid of onfield bravado that Roberts stands out like dogs balls the way he gets into opponents faces.
Would Voss have been there when/if we ever come good and compete for a flag? Maybe not, but by then hopefully we’ve added a couple more players with some natural aggression and the whole team has lifted in that regard.
But we didn’t even give him a look in.
As an aside, I read on here that there were potential off field issues that was the real problem with him, though I can’t recall reading anything in the news or whatever of incidents, in house suspensions or anything. I respect that the club needs to make that call on players from time to time, but it’s hard to factor that in if there are only ever whispers on Blitz.
I can handle losing better, if it gives us Voss Zoomies after a goal and body slamming the opposition captain.
It’s not just that, all players would walk taller, Imagine how much yap Roberts would give if he had Voss to back him up.
The one thing I laugh at is people in the match day thread bagging Voss out and calling him this, that and the other when they, and we, would absolutely get around a player who played with that sort of physical presence and energy. Especially when we’re a team that lacks that sort of thing. And it’s important for morale in teams that are rebuilding. Is he a superstar player? No. But he’s playing a role that’s getting him a game in a solid team and he’s improving. I remember when he left a chorus of people saying he wouldn’t get a game for them…
He actually reminds me of Townsend. He’ll be a trivia/late night on the ■■■■ anecdote in a few years - “remember that guy Pat Voss that looked a million bucks for about 18 mths, wtf happened to him?”
He still has hard hands/not a good mark
He still can’t kick/not a good set shot
Sure, his energy and enthusiasm is great and he’ll “make things happen” here and there.
And I’m happy to admit that he’s already achieved more at Freo than I’d predicted.
But I’m still confident he’ll be a forgotten man in 3-4 years. 35 games, 29 goals, sort of thing.
Nah I am not a boo-er and don’t really yell stuff out about opposition players. I just focus on our own players. Any comments, supportive or derogatory, are likely to be about our players. I get that not everyone will be like that though and people can boo and holler as much as they like. Just saying I find it amusing especially in the instance when it was our club who got rid of the bloke and he’s playing in an expressive, physical manner that supporters* would love.
Sorry, I missed an opportunity there. Not “supporters”, I meant to say “THE FANS”
My annoyance is that we persisted with Wiedeman instead of giving Voss a go. Even if Voss is no world beater, he deserved more than he got at Essendon.
What was BT’s line in the commentary? If Voss ever kicked 5 goals he’d probably chair himself off at the end of the game. Best call BT has made in some time
People saying i prefer caddy or may, fair enough i do too, but at the time those two weren’t even on the list, weid was and the other dude from Perth, i forget his name, where are they now? That’s who you’re meant to be comparing him to. Voss won the vfl bnf was playing well all year and never got a go, that’s the issue and he has forged a decent career at AFL level in a team with a strong list. A lot on here said he’d never get a game at Freo!
Like they’ve tried lual this year, you have a look at everybody in the afl team to see how their form translates to the top level and voss’s pretty much has. He was one of those that brad never liked and had a weird set against. Similar to how he has a weird love for other guys that can do no wrong.
He was carrying on like a wanker yesterday and was sidetracked, but at the time he was better than our other options (at the time) and should have been given a proper go. He benches 160 kg he said when b.t asked him last night, fair effort.
This doesn’t pass the sniff test. Brad Scott routinely gives games to Perkins, Guelfi, Stringer all of whom Voss would delete on the track or in the gym. Didn’t he smoke our time trials? There really is no evidence he was not as dialled in physically as possible.