Michael Voss has done many things in football, both as a player and a coach, but there is one thing that eludes the Brisbane Lions’ Senior Coach.
He has never beaten St Kilda as coach.
The Lions last defeated the Saints in Round 9 2008, when Jonathan Brown booted six goals and Jed Adcock collected 30 disposals in the 46-point victory at the Gabba.
Brown and Adcock were two of only six currently-listed Lions players that were part of that game – along with Simon Black, Ash McGrath, Daniel Merrett and Joel Patfull.
To put it into historical context, the likes of Daniel Rich, Jack Redden and Tom Rockliff were all running around in their respective U18 competitions, while Leigh Matthews was still at the Lions’ helm.
The Saints have since been an elusive scalp for Voss, who has accounted for every other team in his tenure as coach.
As elusive as it has been, each of the four encounters between the two sides since 2008 have been close, with St Kilda defeating the Lions by an average margin of just 14 points.
Voss expects another tough contest this Saturday night, despite the Saints only managing three wins so far this year and who come off a 101-point defeat at the hands of Geelong last weekend.
“You can always have disappointment (St Kilda’s loss to Geelong), but it’s how you respond, and we expect them to respond,” Voss said at Tuesday’s press conference.
But the Lions’ coach kept the focus intently on his in-form Lions.
“We had a strong performance, we might’ve just missed, well ok, we get disappointed about that, but professionals move on, and they move on quick and they focus on the next contest,” Voss said
“The next contest is at our home ground, (which is) very important to us and we’ve got to win the match.”
