SENIOR reporter Michael McKenna has been named 2009 Journalist of the Year in Queensland, capping a strong showing by The Australian in the state media awards.
03.09.2009
By: Courtney Walsh, Dan Koch
MICHAEL Voss has identified a resemblance to Brett Ratten in the way Carlton plays, but it is a similarity the Blues coach, for the most part, does not see.
Certainly Ratten agrees with one aspect of the Brisbane coach's assessment -- Chris Judd is far quicker than he ever was. Start both at the centre bounce and there is a fair chance Judd would clear the square before Ratten had trotted from the circle.
To borrow a line Judd used on Tuesday when contrasting his experience with West Coast and the Blues, it is like arguing that apples are oranges.
The Blues boast eye-catching players of the calibre of Judd and Brendan Fevola, with the speed of Marc Murphy and the flair of Eddie Betts, whereas Ratten spent his career caked in mud at the bottom of packs.
Revered by his peers at Princes Park, Ratten was largely overlooked elsewhere, as evidenced in Carlton's last premiership year, 1995, when he claimed the club's best and fairest award yet failed to poll a Brownlow vote.
Ask the Carlton coach the same question about the Brisbane champion, though, and he will argue there is little doubt Voss has moulded the Lions into a group with his fearless style.
``I think he has put his stamp on the group and their approach to the man; to the football,'' Ratten said.
``With coaches, I think it is sometimes hard to see the way teams play, (or) if you can mirror that to the coach because, if our team plays nice and quick, well, that is nowhere near how I played.
``That is the way it goes sometimes, but their approach at the footy is really Michael Voss-like.''
The truth, perhaps, behind the evolution of Carlton and Brisbane from also-rans to finalists this year lies more in the character of the two coaches than the style of the teams.
Voss, for example, is certain Ratten's effort to extract the best from a young squad hit by injuries is an indication that the diligence with which he prepared as a player has been carried through to the coaching box.
That's why Voss is understandably wary of the Blues in Saturday night's elimination final at the Gabba, despite their poor performance against Adelaide last week.
``Well, Chris Judd is a touch faster than him ... but seriously, what I knew of Brett Ratten as a player was as a fantastic competitor able to draw the most out of himself and I think he does the same thing as a coach for his playing group,'' Voss said.
``Whenever you get that happening -- you aren't surprised they have ended up in a final because I know Brett, like we are here, is going to be prepared. That he has been able to draw the best out of his players is a credit to him and is a sign of a great coach.
``We need to ensure our coaching group has done everything it could for the game because I know they will have.''
Ratten, who could easily have been watching this game from the sidelines as an ex-Carlton captain rather than as the club's coach, given Voss was offered the Blues position in 2007, said his players would need to be prepared for a physically taxing game against a club with the proud record of never losing a final at home.
``You see a lot of what Leigh Matthews put there, with their hard-edged approach to football,'' Ratten said.
``Michael has really continued that a fair bit with the players they have brought in, the way they go about that.
``You just need to look at a James Polkinghorne, and some of their younger players, they have an appetite to really win one-on-one football and I think they do it extremely well.''
Regardless of prior honours -- Ratten is a three-time All-Australian, club captain and triple best-and-fairest winner, while Voss claimed three flags as Brisbane skipper, a Brownlow and countless other gongs -- Saturday night shapes as a first for both.
In the infancy of their coaching careers, it is the first time either will play puppetmaster in a final from the confines of the box. By Sunday, only one will have the opportunity to add premiership coach to their impressive resumes this September.
