Northern Blues senior coach Josh Fraser was delighted with his side’s collective mindset and performance in yesterday’s 55-point win over the Casey Demons.

A committed effort across the board was a feature for the Blues, who turned up the pressure as they romped to their fourth consecutive victory.

It was Northern’s first triumph over Casey in five years, and for the first time in seven years they collected four wins in a row.

Fraser said the win marked another significant step for the club on a number of levels.

“It was a really important match for us, to validate the direction we’re heading in and also to hopefully set ourselves up for later in the year,” Fraser said.

“We’re showing great signs of growth, yet we’re still frustrated with some areas of our game.”

Despite conceding four goals in the final term, it was another solid defensive performance from the Blues, who had contributors all over the field.

Fraser said the young side’s ability to continue grinding out results as expectation increases was hopefully beginning to grow.

“There were some really encouraging signs, some good growth but we’re still learning and accepting the responsibility of fronting up each week and getting a result,” Fraser said.

“If we want to be the club we aspire to be, we have to keep fronting up and meeting these challenges.” 

Four in a row for @nbluesfc! Yes, lads! #BoundByBlue (: @timmurdz)

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Fraser highlighted the buy-in from all 23 players during the game as an overriding positive, and one which provided a “good headache” post-match.

“It’s probably the hardest job we’ve had as a coaching group to finalise our better players. We had such an even performance across the board, so I’m probably not prepared to highlight anyone.” Fraser said.

“What I will say is that the accountability and expectation around performing is high, and with that comes pressure on players to deliver.

“It’s a different space to last year — we had guys contributing, but that bar has been raised. It’s good for our football club, our Development boys and Carlton. It shows a real sign of growth and a bright future.”

The Northern Blues will return to Preston on Saturday, when they host Sandringham with both sides sitting at 4-1 after five rounds.