Today afl.com.au compares the playing careers of two champions of the game.
According to the great Leigh Matthews, there has been no more valuable person in football than Michael Voss.
This glowing endorsement echoes the sentiments of many who claim that Voss embodied the full package – the playing ability, the leadership, the professionalism, the team-first attitude, and the will to win at all costs.
Voss was a champion on and off the field at a club where he spent 15 years and 289 games as a player after debuting as a 17-year-old schoolboy in 1992, and later was coach for five years.
He won almost every individual accolade in the game, headlined by five Club Best & Fairest awards and the 1996 Brownlow Medal.
The only honour that escaped him was the Norm Smith Medal.
However, it's his accomplishments as the entrusted leader of the most successful side in Club history that he most cherishes.
Voss skippered the Lions towards their famous three-peat of Premierships – and remains the longest-serving Captain in combined Club history after fulfilling the role for a full decade.
For Matthews, the man who was voted the game's greatest ever player and coached Collingwood to the 1990 Premiership, he also went on to leave a lasting legacy at the Lions.
At the end of 1998, the newly merged Brisbane Lions slumped to one of their darkest ever periods after taking home the AFL's wooden spoon.
A team filled with so much talent had quickly become unravelled, so the Club sought out one of the game's Legends to repair the damage.
Enter Matthews.
He made an immediate impact on the Club – both on and off the field – helping steer the Lions from 16th in 1998 to the Preliminary Final the following year. It was the equal best single-season turnaround in AFL history.
He also effected a significant cultural change within the organisation which went a long way to transforming two fractured Clubs into one unified merged entity.
His ruthless playing style was promptly instilled into his team, who went on to enjoy an unrivalled period of success throughout Matthews' 237-game coaching tenure – including that famous hat-trick of AFL Premierships from 2001-2003.
His playing career is exceptional.
332 games for Hawthorn from 1969-1985, a four time VFL Premiership Captain, eight best and fairests, the Coleman Medal (1975), All Australian (1972) and AFL Hall of Fame Legend (1996) amongst other individual and team honours.
He remains the longest-serving and most successful coach in combined Club history, and deserves his place among the absolute elite.
Who gets your vote, Voss or Matthews? VOTE HERE
