# 276: Michael Voss (Player Profile)

An episode of [The Howie Games](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1146329262), 12 Aug 2026, 15 min.

Audio: https://enrichment.soundstack.com/4vjqq8/episode.flightcast.com/x9kk4aotite50yw4jaqawn3p.mp3

One of the great leaders in Australian football joins Howie to share his extraordinary journey through the game. From a prodigious junior who once kicked 14 goals at the National Championships, to captaining the Brisbane Lions to three consecutive Premierships, and most recently stepping away from the senior job at the Blues (and yep, we talk about that in the main episode). He reflects on leadership, playing, coaching and the moments that shaped him, but first, a Player Profile wth some spice... Vossy reveals his best teammate, best player he has coached, and this years Premiership tip. Importantly, Howie discovers his unexpected love of Bryan Adams concerts. Plus all the normal best bits. Michael Voss. A football life like few others. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:02] A listener production.
[0:03] Okay, are you recording?
[0:08] This man has led Brisbane as captain to three premierships.
[0:11] He's coached two amazing football clubs.
[0:13] As you'll hear in next week's full episode, he has apprehended a car thief amongst other things.
[0:19] But, Michael Voss, are you ready for the Howie Games Player Profile questions?
[0:22] I'm ready.
[0:23] You were to fill these out in the day at the Brisbane Bears to put in the record.
[0:27] What are your nicknames, if any?
[0:30] Wow.
[0:31] I'll let one in.
[0:33] Melrose.
[0:34] Melrose?
[0:35] So Doug Savant out of Melrose Place.
[0:37] Melrose Place.
[0:38] Yeah.
[0:38] I don't mind that.
[0:39] He used to have a wave of his hair.
[0:42] Which character was he, Doug?
[0:43] I can't now remember.
[0:44] Oh, we'll put some in.
[0:45] We'll do some research.
[0:46] Melrose.
[0:47] All right.
[0:47] All right, Melrose.
[0:48] I like that.
[0:49] What is your favorite food, Melrose?
[0:51] Oh, definitely roast lamb.
[0:52] Okay, roast lamb.
[0:53] Yeah, all lasagna are very tight, very tight.
[0:56] Yeah, like Garfield and Morty, love their lasagna.
[0:59] Can you cook?
[1:00] No.
[1:01] Okay, so people are coming to your place and you have to provide your number one dish.
[1:05] Yeah.
[1:05] What are you actually going to make?
[1:07] Well, based on what's transpired out in the socials, I would say scrambled eggs.
[1:11] Scrambled eggs.
[1:13] That's good by you, Vossie.
[1:14] That is good by you.
[1:16] Simple.
[1:16] I like scrambled eggs.
[1:18] I like that and a little bit of crispiness as well.
[1:20] Three people are coming around to your house alive, dead, you've met or you haven't, that are going to experience Michael Voss's scrambled eggs and an evening of entertainment.
[1:28] Who are the three you're inviting along?
[1:29] This is the hardest one without question.
[1:31] This is without doubt some of the hardest.
[1:33] At the top of the pops, a person who I love, Barack Obama.
[1:38] Barack Obama.
[1:39] He'd be very good.
[1:40] I like he used to roll up his sleeves.
[1:42] It meant business.
[1:43] Yeah.
[1:43] He's just one of the greatest orators.
[1:45] Yeah, great orator.
[1:46] Great speaker.
[1:48] Knows moments.
[1:49] Yeah.
[1:49] Just impact through his voice.
[1:51] I'm on for that one.
[1:52] Michael Jordan has to be- Okay.
[1:54] Has to be in there.
[1:55] MJ, yeah.
[1:55] Yeah.
[1:57] The third, I don't know necessarily who the third would be.
[2:02] Plenty of sports people out there that I'd love to be able to say.
[2:05] Maybe Chris Martin.
[2:06] Chris Martin, Coldplay.
[2:08] Good combo.
[2:09] Jordan, Obama, and Chris Martin from Coldplay.
[2:12] That'd be a good conversation, right?
[2:13] Yeah, that would be.
[2:14] And I'm sure they'd enjoy your scrambled eggs.
[2:16] What was your first ever job, the first thing you did for money, Vossi?
[2:19] Packing potatoes.
[2:20] Packing potatoes.
[2:21] Packing potatoes.
[2:22] Yeah.
[2:22] For a fruit and veg shop.
[2:23] Or Boss Way?
[2:24] Yeah.
[2:25] It was, yeah, Or Boss Way.
[2:26] Right.
[2:27] So out the back, it used to be like a big, you know, the old traditional cart.
[2:31] Yes.
[2:32] Potatoes would go in, you'd sort of get your bags, and sort of then you had the, you know, your five kilo bag, your seven kilo bag.
[2:38] So we had to sort of pack the bags and sort of weigh it out.
[2:41] What would you be getting paid for this?
[2:42] Yeah.
[2:43] $2 a day.
[2:44] I worked.
[2:45] The second job I think was Lowe's menswear.
[2:47] Was it?
[2:48] What did you bring to the table at Lowe's?
[2:50] No, in the warehouse.
[2:51] You weren't in front of shop.
[2:52] I'm packing boxes, mate.
[2:53] Okay, I can't see you in front of shop.
[2:55] These slacks would look good on you, sir.
[2:57] Okay, what was your first car?
[2:59] My first car was a Mitsubishi Colt.
[3:00] Mitsubishi Colt.
[3:01] Yeah.
[3:02] So that was a little buzz around for a period of time.
[3:04] So that was my first car.
[3:05] It cost me, I think it was about $3,800.
[3:09] Good investment?
[3:10] Yeah, it lasted a long time.
[3:11] Ended up smashing it up.
[3:12] Okay.
[3:12] Yeah, but that's what it's for, isn't it, your first car?
[3:14] Yeah.
[3:14] What are you currently watching?
[3:16] I don't mind a lot of my series.
[3:18] I've run through a few of them.
[3:20] I'm trying to think of the one that I'm really sort of invested in at the moment because there hasn't been a lot on at this point in time.
[3:29] I'm trying to think of some other ones, mate.
[3:31] His hers is one that I've just finished off.
[3:34] I've heard that.
[3:35] It's good.
[3:35] Yeah, not too bad.
[3:36] Not too bad.
[3:36] It's one of those sort of got to solve it as you go.
[3:39] So I don't mind those sort of little thrillers or little twists at the end.
[3:42] Are you a Netflix man?
[3:42] Yeah, don't mind the Netflix.
[3:44] I watched one recently, Black Rabbit.
[3:45] Very good.
[3:46] I haven't seen that one.
[3:46] That's good.
[3:47] That's a good one.
[3:47] Are you into reality TV at all?
[3:49] Not really.
[3:50] So I'm not at all.
[3:51] No.
[3:51] But I've got a show that I watch, well, my son and my wife watch it together and I've jumped on board, Alone.
[3:57] Yeah.
[3:58] Okay.
[3:58] It's where you go out in the bush.
[4:00] So there's Australians at the moment in northern Finland.
[4:03] Okay.
[4:03] And you have to survive.
[4:04] You get 10 items.
[4:04] I think I've heard of this.
[4:05] Now, Vossi, we sit there.
[4:08] So it's minus three.
[4:09] There's no food.
[4:10] You're trying to catch a fish.
[4:11] They can't actually hunt in this one.
[4:12] We sit there after dinner, crank the fire up so it's warm.
[4:16] Right.
[4:17] He just continues to eat through the whole thing after dinner.
[4:20] I normally have a bowl of cereal.
[4:21] So we are surrounded by our creature comforts and we just strafe these punters for being weak when they haven't eaten anything but berries for 30 days.
[4:30] It's minus six and they're going around and they're just, oh, no, no, glass longer than this bloke while I'm eating my third bowl of Weet-Bix.
[4:37] Do yourself a favour.
[4:38] Our luxuries.
[4:39] I'll have a look at that one.
[4:39] I have heard of that now.
[4:40] Yeah, it's good.
[4:41] It's good.
[4:41] It should be good.
[4:43] And the person that lasts the longest gets the cash prize at the end.
[4:46] But you don't know.
[4:46] They start with 12.
[4:47] You don't know how many.
[4:48] Yeah, so you're going to last as long as you can, isn't it?
[4:50] And then when you walk out, you don't know whether your first, second, tenth will last.
[4:53] Until they tap you on the shoulder and told you you've won.
[4:55] Yeah.
[4:56] Yeah.
[4:56] And mentally.
[4:57] That is mentally.
[4:59] I couldn't deal with the cold.
[5:01] Favourite movie?
[5:03] Favourite movie is a very obvious one, but Shawshank Redemption has always been one of my absolute favourite movies.
[5:08] That will be the number one mention on this show.
[5:11] Music?
[5:11] Do you listen to music?
[5:12] I'm not really a music enthusiast.
[5:14] Yeah.
[5:14] So I just listen to what the girls listen to.
[5:18] What about concerts?
[5:18] Have you been to concerts?
[5:19] Concerts?
[5:20] I'm pretty basic when it comes to concerts.
[5:22] So like Brian Adams was- He's coming back out.
[5:25] Yeah, he's coming back.
[5:26] So we'll go to Brian Adams.
[5:27] Right.
[5:27] You go to Brian Adams.
[5:28] Have to go to Brian Adams.
[5:29] Do you dance at concerts?
[5:31] I don't mind a little bit of a shake to the left and right.
[5:33] Okay.
[5:33] So standing up out of the chair.
[5:35] No problem with that whatsoever.
[5:36] Just sort of moving side to side.
[5:37] Sway just enough and just make sure the voice is at a tone that's not loud enough that people can hear.
[5:43] Okay.
[5:43] When you're singing along for summer of 69.
[5:46] Correct.
[5:46] I like that.
[5:47] I like that.
[5:47] Books, do you read them?
[5:49] I don't mind books.
[5:50] I've moved from John Grisham books earlier in my life.
[5:54] If you need an easy read.
[5:56] And then I more have gone into, yeah, performance books.
[5:59] Oh, like yourself.
[6:00] So, yeah, just go into more sort of learning from, yeah, management to sport to, yeah, so I've sort of varied over the course of time and sort of probably more invested in the self-development more so than anything else in recent time.
[6:14] Podcasts, do you listen to them?
[6:15] I don't listen to a lot of podcasts.
[6:17] Okay.
[6:18] No, so- That's the one that I think you might- Yeah.
[6:20] Yeah.
[6:21] There's so many out there.
[6:22] Yeah.
[6:22] So many out there.
[6:24] I just started – you remember the ESPN 30 for 30 doco?
[6:27] Yes.
[6:28] Some great ones.
[6:29] Yeah, they do a podcast now, and the most recent one, it's called Baseball Boy.
[6:33] It's about Otani, and he's an interpreter.
[6:37] Shahe Ohtani, obviously the best baseball in the world, and his interpreter and a legal gambling situation.
[6:44] I'm three episodes in.
[6:45] Fascinating.
[6:46] Fascinating.
[6:47] So if you get into the world of podcasts now, you've got more time on your hands.
[6:49] Yeah.
[6:50] Check out the latest one on ESPN 30 for 30.
[6:52] Very good.
[6:52] Favourite holiday destination?
[6:55] Favourite holiday destination would be early days, definitely Noosa.
[7:00] Oh, yeah.
[7:01] Can't go too far wrong off that.
[7:03] Wish I bought a house there 15 years ago.
[7:05] Sorry, mate.
[7:05] But now I'm short $19.4 million to get a two-bedroom apartment in Little Cove, unfortunately.
[7:10] Yeah, well, after the GFC, it certainly came down quite a fair bit.
[7:14] It might have been around that time, but you had to have the cash at that particular time.
[7:17] But Leidenuse has always been a bit of a like.
[7:22] But probably the most recent, I would have to say Japan skiing.
[7:25] Japan skiing.
[7:25] Yeah, so love skiing post my playing career.
[7:30] Wasn't able to ski during it.
[7:32] But skiing is just one of the best holidays you can go on, one of the best family holidays.
[7:36] Do you ski?
[7:37] Yeah, snowboard, but not very often.
[7:39] One of the best.
[7:39] Yes, one of the best family holidays.
[7:41] Yeah, everyone says that.
[7:42] My whole town goes to Japan over the summer period.
[7:45] That's brilliant.
[7:45] So good.
[7:46] Bucket list destination I haven't been to?
[7:48] Bucket list would be, well, heading to Europe in some form.
[7:51] So heading to there.
[7:53] I've actually never been to Europe.
[7:54] Well, footy seasons don't really, otherwise you're going to have to go in winter, aren't you?
[7:57] Yeah.
[7:58] Or get through the October, which is generally reasonably nice.
[8:01] Are you sure you haven't been to Europe?
[8:02] I did see a video of you and Brad Scott.
[8:07] dancing?
[8:08] Was that in Ibiza with your chains on, Vossi?
[8:12] That's Europe, isn't it?
[8:13] Well, I've been looking, you know, you go through different stages of your life.
[8:18] You do, Vossi.
[8:19] Right?
[8:19] And I feel like I'm at that junction right now.
[8:23] And I felt like that feedback was actually really positive.
[8:26] It was a good video.
[8:27] You looked good.
[8:28] Mate, you looked amazing.
[8:29] Thank you.
[8:29] Thank you.
[8:30] Thank you.
[8:30] Thank you.
[8:31] Now, you explained to me why you had your top off.
[8:34] Why was the top off?
[8:35] I think it was based on the big freeze type scenario.
[8:39] Okay.
[8:39] Anyway, you and Scotty, I didn't expect to appear in that video, but I did laugh.
[8:43] I did laugh.
[8:43] I did laugh about that.
[8:44] That was sent through by a mutual friend of ours.
[8:47] Yes, it was.
[8:47] Yes.
[8:48] I don't troll through the social media, but I did find that that was actually quite funny.
[8:52] Let's name it.
[8:52] It was Luke Tunnicook that sent that one through.
[8:55] A few for you.
[8:56] Okay.
[8:58] What if anything scares you?
[9:01] Not knowing what you're doing is a little scary.
[9:04] Okay.
[9:04] Yeah, a little bit scary.
[9:07] Always had a pretty good idea on what's happening next.
[9:11] Yeah, I can write.
[9:12] But when you don't know what you're doing next, that's just a little scary.
[9:15] Well, that'd be you.
[9:16] You'll be right.
[9:16] You'll be right.
[9:17] As I said, the Cape Crusader, you'll be Batman.
[9:20] What is Michael Voss good at, not related to football, that it would be, it doesn't matter how minute the skill is, but you just think, actually, I'm pretty good at that.
[9:29] It doesn't matter what it is.
[9:29] Yeah.
[9:30] I think I'm, okay, handyman.
[9:32] Handyman?
[9:34] Are you really?
[9:35] Yeah.
[9:36] I think I'm not.
[9:36] Now, my family might.
[9:38] What could you fix?
[9:40] Well, no, I've built, I've actually built decks and.
[9:45] Have you?
[9:46] Yeah, converted garages into rooms and sort of just tackled those sorts of things.
[9:51] But there's a lot you can learn on YouTube nowadays.
[9:53] Yeah.
[9:54] I'm not saying it was compliance.
[9:56] I'm not saying that all the electricals were compliant or not.
[9:59] Well, I actually had something written down here that I didn't mention to you, but now you're talking about your handyman activity.
[10:07] Did you miss games?
[10:09] Yeah, no, that's, yeah, I chopped my finger off once.
[10:12] Right, a finger?
[10:12] Did you do something with your calf as well?
[10:14] Yeah, stabbed my calf.
[10:15] Was that on a handyman job?
[10:17] Oh, no, that was more looking after my body, actually, for me.
[10:20] I thought I was coming up with a contraption, which you could probably say is handyman.
[10:24] You were coming up with a contraption?
[10:25] I was coming up with an ice machine.
[10:29] Tommy, are you listening to this?
[10:31] Right.
[10:31] So this is the inventor coming out of me thinking I was a genius.
[10:34] Right.
[10:35] And it accidentally slipped out of the plastic and I stabbed myself in the calf.
[10:40] And missed football?
[10:42] No, I played the following week, but I actually had a little bit of blood poisoning I shouldn't have played.
[10:47] Okay.
[10:48] Indulge me here.
[10:49] First that pops in your head, these will be the hardest ones.
[10:52] Don't think it through too much.
[10:54] You don't have to answer.
[10:55] Best player you've played with.
[10:57] Nigel Lappin.
[11:00] Why?
[11:01] He's a gun.
[11:03] And now he's off to Tasmania.
[11:04] Yeah, that's a huge win for him.
[11:06] But no, he's an understated player through our time.
[11:09] His level of consistency was absolutely through the roof.
[11:14] Special player, Nigel.
[11:15] Best player you've coached.
[11:17] Best player coached.
[11:19] Jeez.
[11:20] Oh, it'd have to be Jonathan Brown.
[11:22] Jonathan Brown.
[11:22] Yeah.
[11:23] He's going to be pumped when he hears that.
[11:24] Yeah, I know.
[11:26] We had a couple of years there where he's just at peak, brown, and unstoppable, absolutely unstoppable.
[11:33] Who do you think will win the premiership?
[11:36] I think Freo will win the premiership.
[11:37] Can you see anyone but Nick Dacos winning the brown low?
[11:40] No.
[11:41] He'll more than likely get the most votes ever in a brown low.
[11:46] Which is saying some continuing Cripper's got, what do you have?
[11:49] 38, 40 something.
[11:50] Yeah, it's ridiculous.
[11:51] Yeah, something.
[11:51] I don't know.
[11:51] It's crazy numbers.
[11:53] He might get 48.
[11:54] If you were coaching any team now and you could choose one player, I'm basically asking you who you think is the best player in the comp.
[12:05] Yeah.
[12:06] Well, not necessarily, actually.
[12:08] Not necessarily.
[12:08] No.
[12:09] Choose one player.
[12:10] I would say...
[12:12] I would say right now that Nick Dacos is making the biggest difference to a team than anybody else in the competition right now.
[12:21] So it'd be hard to go past him.
[12:23] He's proven that he's bona fide, absolute star.
[12:27] We're getting off the topic of the player profile here, but when you coached against Nick Dacos, what would the plan be?
[12:34] Hard to.
[12:36] And the industry –
[12:38] continuing talks about this as well.
[12:39] How do you stop?
[12:40] It's a fascinating conversation.
[12:41] I don't think anyone's come up with the answer yet.
[12:42] Well, we've done both.
[12:43] And, you know, again, I always put it down to, you know, there's a school thought that you let the system take over because he manoeuvres through different roles.
[12:53] He plays forward, he plays on ball, he play half back, he go to wing, you know, they can flip.
[12:57] They've got that.
[12:57] So it's very hard.
[12:58] It can dismantle your system.
[13:00] or you go the individual and you might be able to impact it for a little bit.
[13:05] But, you know, will it get you the result in the end?
[13:08] I think teams have tried both.
[13:09] And you seem to get 40 and kick too.
[13:12] Well, you know, we tried the last time.
[13:17] We played him.
[13:18] This is obviously not the very last time they played but the one before.
[13:21] And we had a very good player on him.
[13:23] And sometimes what we discount, we had Sam Walsh on him for the first period of time and he lit it up for 10 minutes.
[13:29] And it wasn't so much to do anything with what Sam did.
[13:32] But there's just this, what we underestimate, which frustrates me a little, is we underestimate good players are good players for a reason.
[13:40] If you've got Djokovic versus world number 15, you've got to play pretty well to beat him, don't you?
[13:48] Yes, you do.
[13:49] So it's the same in our sport, even though it's team.
[13:52] And Nick Dacos to beat him takes a different requirement to beat somebody else because he's probably close to, if not the best player in the competition right now.
[14:00] And he's earned that right through his performances.
[14:02] And so to beat him, you don't have to have the matchup.
[14:05] You've got to actually have the talent to do it, which is very hard to do.
[14:08] Final one for you.
[14:09] This defines you as a carton coach, a Brisbane coach, as a Brisbane three-time premiership player, as a man that's represented the Fitzroy Football Club through Brisbane, as a Brisbane bear, as a father, as a husband, as a crime fighter on the bean streets of Melbourne, Michael Voss.
[14:24] Pineapple on pizza, yes or no?
[14:28] Pineapple has to go on the pizza.
[14:30] Here's your Queenslander coming through.
[14:32] Appreciate your time.
[14:34] Your full episode is out next week.
[14:35] You're a good man.
[14:36] Peace and love.
[14:37] Thanks, mate.
[14:37] Cheers.
[14:37] He's got on the roost.
[14:38] Oh, no.
[14:39] Oh, no.

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