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Why Voss knew Haynes would quickly find his feet at Carlton
Andrew Slevison • May 1st, 2025 3:46 pm
Carlton coach Michael Voss knew that Nick Haynes would quickly find his feet in navy blue.
The veteran defender was well below his best in his first handful of games for the Blues after crossing from GWS last trade period.
Haynes, 32, played in four straight losses to begin his Carlton career but his best run of form has coincided with a trio of wins, including last weekend’s impressive 18-point triumph over Geelong.
The 2020 All-Australian was arguably best on ground with 20 disposals, 13 marks and nine intercepts in what was his best performance for some time.
After shaking off a sketchy start, Haynes has found his spot in a Blues backline that has conceded the fourth fewest points in the league under Voss.
The Blues coach was confident that a player of Haynes’ ilk would assimilate quickly and provide his new club with intercept nous sooner than later.
“There’s a new system he plays, there’s cohesion with your teammates,” Voss said on SEN Breakfast.
“Asking our players to be able to make split-second decisions while staying connected as a footy team, and when you’re walking into a team to have a new back six or seven that you’re playing with takes some time.
“He started as a 17-year-old at GWS and played there for the better part of 12-13 years. He grew up with them and lived effectively in the same apartment building as them so you become quite close.
“Then you turn over to a new system and it can take a little bit of time. I think we were pretty confident that he was going to work his way through it.
“The body of work that we’d seen over pre-season and how he was gelling with his teammates was there for all to see. He just obviously needed a few weeks to settle into it and that’s where you just stick with your man and keep working through until he finds his form.
“But it was pleasing to see that he was able to work his way through that on the weekend.”
Another Blue who has found top form in defence in 2025 is Jack Silvagni.
The 27-year-old had been used in various roles over his career but this season has made a key defensive post alongside Jacob Weitering his own.
Silvagni, who will be sidelined for two weeks with a broken hand, put the backline role on Voss’ radar in pre-season and so far it has worked a treat.
“It was a conversation pre his ACL about locking down a position and a role, and we never really landed anywhere pre that,” Voss added.
“So on his return and through discussion in the off-season and leading into the pre-season period we discussed where he was best served next.
“We know he can go forward and have an impact, he’s played in the ruck and done that, he’s embraced all those roles. It was more driven from him, to be fair, was ‘I’d love to be able to have a crack at this role next to ‘Weiters’ and see if I can do it well’.
“We gave him that responsibility through pre-season, loved straight away what he was doing. He wasn’t getting everything right but already you could see his footy smarts.
“He’s got the chip of a competitor who hates to lose which is what you want your defenders to be. He’ll be missed on the weekend and we’ll be hoping to get him back pretty soon.”
The Blues, on the back of three straight wins, take their sturdy defensive game to Adelaide to take on the best attacking team in the Crows on Saturday.
