Brisbane great Voss witnessed the formation of Lions academies and believes the success of such programs is crucial to the future of the game.

Voss says the sustained success of the Greater Western Sydney Giants and Sydney Swans will make Australian rules "the chosen sport to play" in NSW as academies flourish.

GWS have had vast talent pools to draw from in their early years but have recently lost the Albury and Murray regions from the Giants' academy zone with the AFL under pressure to limit their catchment area.

But as opportunities in the Giants' system close for some male prospects, plenty have opened for females.

The 1996 Brownlow medallist says the advent of the AFL Women's competition has opened up the pathways to both male and female players that give the sport "a great advantage".

"The academies probably just give a real good opportunity to be able to stay at home, be able to grow local talent and it's a pretty critical strategy for the northern clubs," Voss said.

The Giants' rise to the top of the table has put some noses out of joint with the club benefiting from a number of high-draft picks since its inception.

"To finish in the preliminary final, I don't know whether they see that ahead of time or whether they see that as right smack-on but they've obviously got a fair depth of talent even at their reserves team," Voss said.

"They're probably set up pretty well to be able to think that they're one of the favourites going into the season no doubt."

Voss' time as head coach of the Brisbane Lions came to a sudden end after he was told his contract would not be renewed after the 2013 season.

Any desires to return to a head coaching role are "probably irrelevant at the moment" with Voss and his young family settled in Adelaide, where he has acted as midfield manager since 2014.

Voss says he is "firmly fixated" on delivering the best program to the players at Port Adelaide, which includes former GWS academy member and NEAFL player Logan Austin.

Austin is on the comeback trail from injury after an ankle fracture brought down the curtain on his season.

The silver lining in Austin's inability to do a lot of running on his recovering ankle was he could get in the gym.

"He's certainly bulked up a bit so size won't be an issue for him next year that's for sure," Voss said.

"He was one of the guys at the back end of the year that had some exposure to AFL football and did really well.

"He certainly was playing well enough to get a chance and some injuries to some other personnel was able to fast track that so we got some really valuable game time into him."

Austin has the chance to play in his hometown at Manuka Oval in round four against GWS in 2017 but won't be lining up against former teammate Jack Steele, who has signed with St Kilda.

Voss says while he has seen little of Steele first-hand he has every chance of forcing his way into the St Kilda midfield.

"From my point of view he's a talent, he's a big frame, and certainly those big frames are becoming more valuable as midfielders in the competition."