Mark Harvey knows exactly how Michael Voss feels.
The empathy is huge as the similarities eery.
Blindsided himself two years ago when Fremantle moved heaven and earth for Ross Lyon, he’s watched Voss suffer the same fate from close quarters.
This time it’s the shadow of Lyon’s great mate, Paul Roos, looming large in the background.
Brought to Brisbane by Voss as an assistant coach in the days after the Dockers ended his five-season tenure, Harvey said he hold immense sympathy for the Lions’ triple-premiership-winning skipper.
Especially as he hinted the decision came early, with the 13th-placed club on the way up after a stirring mid-season revival.
“I’ve been through a similar scenario and you always like to think that you can coach a team when you have just about got it ready to do something special,” Harvey said on Friday.
“It’s unfortunate that it’s happened.
“He’s an icon of this club and also the game.
“It hits you between the eyes.”
Harvey will serve as caretaker coach for the final three rounds, taking him to 100 senior games as a head coach, but has no interest in returning to the top role, preferring to continue as a senior assistant.
However, he did his best to sell the Brisbane Lions as a rising team full of promise to coaching suitors like Roos.
“Whoever gets the job here at the Lions be rest assured that this young group is progressing very well,” Harvey said.
“You’ve seen some of the teams that we have beaten this year, hopefully we can finish off the season really strong.
“We’ve got a good young list and a big bright future. There’s not many reasons why you wouldn’t want to have this job.”
Roos is the No.1 target for Brisbane who are in the process of contacting their short-list of candidates before announcing a selection committee next week.
Co-captain Jonathan Brown said the Fitzroy great and 2005 Swans premiership coach was an appealing prospect and doubted the Lions would have cut Voss without having confidence in naming a proven successor.
While Voss has said he’s unsure whether he’d like to coach in the AFL again, Harvey felt his passion for the game and tactical nous would see him join a new club.
“It’s a real passion for him,” Harvey said. “He gives it his full commitment.
“He’s astute. He knows what he’s doing so I would reckon you’ll see in the next month or two that’s the way he’s heading.
“In my two years that I’ve been here I thought he was really starting to progress with the way he led the team.
“The club thought different and they move on.”
Off-contract this year, Harvey said it depended on the Lions’ new coach whether he’d stay in Brisbane next season but hoped for more.
“Watching these younger players mature, they’re starting to get to the levels that you would get excited about,” he said. “You always like to see how they progress and see how far they go.”
