“Has been a masterstroke”: King lauds Voss for Williams positional switch

David King has hailed Carlton coach Michael Voss’ move of shifting Zac Williams forward as a master stroke.

Williams, who has played the bulk of his 147 games as a defender or a midfielder, has been moved forward in recent weeks and in doing so has kicked seven goals over the last fortnight.

The 29-year-old finished with three goals, 12 disposals and five marks in Thursday’s win over Port Adelaide and King has loved seeing the Blues go with another real option up forward to support Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay.

Given Williams struggled in his last game as a full-time defender, in the Round 8 loss to Collingwood, King thinks that Voss’ move has been a revelation.

“I think the move of Williams out of the back line to forward has been a masterstroke for Vossy,” King told SEN Breakfast.

“He’s kicked seven in the last two weeks. He looked really dangerous last night, particularly deep forward.

“I know we send those mid-size players forward and they sometimes struggle to find a home.

“They often think, ‘How am I actually playing here? Am I a crumber? Am I putting on pressure?’.

“But he's actually there at the drop of the ball, make some magic type of forward. I think he's been a revelation.”

Kane Cornes also hailed Voss for his work in the coaches' box around the ground on Thursday.

After taking care of both ends of the ground throughout, Cornes was impressed to see Carlton’s midfield go to work in the fourth quarter where they scored at will from stoppages.

Once they got their on-ball unit going, Cornes felt that Voss and the Carlton coaches had all bases covered against a helpless Power side.

“I thought it was an excellent coaching performance,” Cornes said.

“Their ability to adjust around stoppage - which was the only thing going for Port Adelaide really in the first three quarters, their work from stoppage was elite and has been all year.

“But as soon as the Blues matched them in that area, they had basically all bases covered.

“It was an outstanding performance from Michael Voss in the coaches box.

“Williams forward has been a real winner for them as well.”

The 8-4 Blues next face the 8-3 Bombers in a huge King’s Birthday Eve clash at the MCG next Sunday.