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“Don’t belong here”: Defiant Voss responds to heinous threat
Andrew Slevison • July 9th, 2025 12:56 pm
Carlton coach Michael Voss has responded to an alleged threatening text message directed at him.
The AFL integrity department is reportedly investigating the “heinous” threat which was left on the MCG’s anti-social hotline service and is now in the hands of police.
The Herald Sun is reporting that “the shocking message is understood to reference a brutal end to his life”, and that it “is not being treated as a credible death threat”.
Speaking to the media ahead of Thursday night’s clash with the Brisbane Lions, a defiant Voss said such behaviour does not belong anywhere in the football landscape.
“I’ve seen the dark side of football as well where we blame, we become victims and this environment where it’s quite toxic,” said Voss.
“We think showing passion is about anger, but it’s not about that at all.
“When I think about football I think about what families are, about communities, how we bring people together and what we want our environment to be. That’s what it is supposed to be about, it’s supposed to be about bringing people together.
“That is extremely important to me. It’s also about that 12-year-old and wanting to inspire the next generation. So when I look across the fence I see the 12 and 14-year-olds who have aspirations to be able to do this.
“The inspiration for me is about inspiring the next generation and leaving a lasting impact on what that looks like. So when I turn up on the weekend and do what I do, I do that for Carlton, I do that for the next kid playing in the Carlton jumper. I do it so this football club can have the sustained success we’re all craving for.
“But there’s a way we need to behave. There’s a way we need to go about it. When things are tough you’ve got to show that support the right way, not the wrong way.
“If that’s a measure for some people on what it should look like, then I’m sorry, you don’t belong here.
“We’ll move on and we’ll make sure that we continue to bring a supporter base that will support in the good times and will support in the bad.
“We’ll continue to support our people to be able to do that so for me the conversation doesn’t need to be anything other than that.
“I get asked about pressure of the game, my job, and what the future looks like - well, ultimately, I only need to look across the fence to find out what inspires me every single day.
“We want to be the best version of ourselves and that’s how we’re going to do it. That’s what we’ve got to focus on.”
Completely unacceptable
Voss was asked how he felt after seeing the message.
“I was dismissive at first. There’s a flow-on effect the first thing you always think about, the person beside you or the family member or the team,” he replied.
“Because there’s a result of what I do, you appreciate that there’s an element of scrutiny that comes with that. But then there’s a part that is completely unacceptable.”
Forthright response
The Carlton coach says he is expecting the AFL integrity to come down hard on the person who sent the threat.
“I think we can all agree that part is unacceptable. We don’t tolerate that as an industry," he continued.
“We leave that with the AFL integrity at the moment and I expect a pretty forthright response.
“This is the current nature that we need to consider within the AFL environment. We all have responsibilities, I have responsibilities, you guys (the media) have responsibilities here about what you write and the opinions you create.
“You’ve got understand that the ripple effect goes beyond just what your opinion is. It reaches deeper.
