Blues coach surprised by rival's 'unusual' recruiting tactic

Out-of-contract Carlton utility Jack Silvagni faces a big decision - stay at his family club, or switch allegiances to arch rivals Collingwood.

Jack Silvagni walks from the ground after the R10 match between Carlton and Sydney at Sydney Cricket Ground, on May 16, 2025. Picture: AFL Photos

CARLTON coach Michael Voss was left surprised by Craig McRae's public admission he had spoken to Jack Silvagni, saying he wouldn't have done the same thing.

McRae raised eyebrows earlier this week when he revealed he had met up with out-of-contract Blues swingman Silvagni, and that he was keen to have a second date.

Silvagni, the son of Stephen and grandson of Sergio, is a third generation Blues player, and a move to arch rival Collingwood would stoke further tensions between the two clubs.

McRae and Voss won three flags together at Brisbane during their playing days, adding further intrigue to the Silvagni tug-of-war.

Voss says he hasn't touched base with McRae about the situation, but said even he was "surprised" when he heard his former teammate publicly talking up the prospect of recruiting unrestricted free agent Silvagni.

He pointed out how much heat West Coast co-captain Oscar Allen copped earlier this season after his meeting with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell became public.

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"It's unusual for a coach to announce something like that," Voss said ahead of Sunday's clash with Fremantle in Perth.

"Regardless of what Craig did, it's not something we would do. We will respect the privacy of the player.

"It's not for me to announce something like that on behalf of someone, because they're the ones that have to walk back into the locker room.

"We'd choose not to make that sort of announcement.

"And while I didn't necessarily read all the headlines around Oscar, I believe he came under a fair bit of heat."

Voss revealed Silvagni will likely miss the rest of the season with an ongoing groin injury.

But he hopes the 27-year-old will stay at the Blues for years to come.

"I want to be really clear - he's a very important player for us. We're certainly hoping he plays out the rest of his career with us," Voss said.

"Jack's had a really important role shift this year. It's been a real win for us to see where he's gone from forward to back."

Craig McRae and Michael Voss are seen after Collingwood's clash against Carlton in round eight, 2024. Picture: AFL Photos

Voss defended the decision to send star forward Charlie Curnow in for season-ending knee surgery.

"Well he needed it. He pulled up quite sore from last week's game," Voss said.

"As the week went it wasn't settling, so we investigated it. He wasn't going to play another game, he needed effectively 4-6 weeks off.

"So given the time frame of the season, the obvious thing to do was to send him in for an operation."

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Carlton (7-12) are well and truly out of finals contention, and the future of Voss remains up in the air despite his contract running until the end of 2026.

Things at Fremantle are far rosier, with the Dockers (13-6) in the thick of the top-four hunt after winning nine of their past 10 games.

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