The Lions led Melbourne all match until Liam Jurrah goaled with the final kick of the day to hand the Demons a five point victory.
“I know it sounds obvious, but in reality we really did lose the game in the end,” Voss said. “We led by five goals early in the last quarter and were definitely in a winning position.”
“Then they kicked six goals in the last quarter and got away from us a little bit.”
“It might have been an exhibition match, but the competitor in you still means its hurts to lose any contest.”
The Lions entered the match with an inexperienced side of 21 players which included former Rookie Adam Spackman who was cleared by the AFL to represent the Club for the occasion.
Voss was pleased with the performance of his young troops, particularly considering seven of his team - Clay Beams, Josh Dyson, Bart McCulloch, Niall McKeever, Bryce Retzlaff, Sean Yoshiura and Spackman - had never played a senior AFL match.
“I saw some young kids out there who showed some very good signs,” Voss said.
“We didn’t have a lot of what you would call ‘true’ senior players out there and I was genuinely happy with the efforts I saw from our younger guys.”
“When you’re in that category, you have to try and prove yourself every time you walk out onto the field. It might not have been an official AFL game, but we were certainly looking closely at all our players’ skill levels and how well they worked and presented,” he said.
“We have a relatively young midfield brigade - guys like Ryan Harwood, Tom Rockliff, Jack Redden and Daniel Rich - and they combined really well together.”
“I thought Josh Dyson was good across half forward and Claye Beams is another Rookie who really stood out.”
“There are plenty of good things we can take away from this game.”
Voss himself took a back seat in the coaches box and handed the reigns over to Assistant Coach Adrian Fletcher to direct the team on match-day and during the training sessions.
“For me it wasn’t so much about being involved in the preparation of our players, it was more about enjoying the experience and being part of the culture,” he said.
Voss believes that spending a week together in China will benefit the group as a whole.
“When we were first advised that we would be part of this event, we thought it was a great idea but didn’t know logistically how it would go,” Voss said.
“Now we’ve been here, I think it has been a fantastic exercise for our group.”
“Being able to come away together, be part of a different culture, play a game of footy and make history - that’s what it’s all about.”
Shanghai Showdown Results
MELBOURNE 1.4 4.7 6.9 12.12 (84)
BRISBANE LIONS 3.5 5.8 10.11 11.13 (79)
GOALS: Melbourne - Jurrah 5, Sylvia 2, Morton 2, Jamar, Spencer, Bennell. Lions - Rockliff 3, Beams 3, Buchanan, Dyson, Rich, O’Brien, Harwood.
BEST: Melbourne - Jurrah, Sylvia, Dunn, Newton, Garland. Lions - Rockliff, Beams, Rich, Redden, Dyson, Retzlaff, Polkinghorne.
