Voss wanted Houston, but the Blues prioritised the draft – How much say should coaches have on list management?

How much of a say should AFL coaches have on list management?

That was the question on the mind of Kane Cornes and Sam Edmund after Collingwood recruit Dan Houston’s honest admission about wanting to play for Carlton.

Houston admitted on 3AW that his initial preference was to play for the Blues given his close relationship with coach Michael Voss who he had previously played under as an assistant coach at Port Adelaide.

The two-time All-Australian said that Voss wanted to bring him to the club as well, but ultimately the Blues instead prioritised the draft during the trade period, getting Pick 3 off West Coast without ever really making a play for Houston.

That allowed the Magpies to make a late play and swoop on the half-back, which matches with Collingwood coach Craig McRae’s wish to have established players join the club over unproven draft selections.

Cornes and Edmund discussed the different priorities of Collingwood and Carlton on SEN Breakfast – who both consider themselves 2025 premiership contenders – and talked about how much sway they think the coaches should hold over the overall direction of the club.

Edmund: “The senior experienced coach Michael Voss coming into a big year, obviously wanted an established player versus the rest of the club wanting to prepare the club for the future.

“It’s all a balancing act, who should hold the right of way?”

Cornes: “It's a really interesting discussion and every club is different.

“We've seen Craig McRae basically pulling the strings at Collingwood, having the most power over that club.”

Edmund: “Can I just say something about that? He came in here and he sat here and said, ‘Give me players, not picks’.

“I think that was actually a part of the strategy at Collingwood which was united. I think as soon as they made the decisions on all their veterans, they were always going down this path.

“I think the list management team were aligned with that … they're chips in.

“The Carlton one might have been a little bit different, I think.”

Cornes: “The best example of a coach being important in recruiting is Sam Mitchell, he’s flying all over the country to try and sign players.

“Michael Voss sounds to me like he's done the same with Dan Houston. It sounds to me like there's a relationship there from when Voss was at Port Adelaide, and that conversation has been there, and there's a really good relationship.

“Voss is probably doing what he thinks all coaches should be doing, if you can get an advantage by using a relationship to sign a gun player to help you win next year, that's what you do.

“But it seems they weren't on the same page, the Carlton list management and Michael Voss.

“When he's trying to do this recruiting, Vossy is not acting rogue here, but he just didn't have the blessing of the list management crew.”

Edmund: “I think he (Houston) would have been one of those nice to haves, and it was a flexible approach going in because Carlton is so tight with the cap, and we know everyone's falling over themselves to gush about how good the draft is.

“I just think they went down a path where they took a broader view of their future, and so they should.

“The club should outweigh the coach.”

Listen to the full discussion below: