"IT'S ABOUT ensuring that last week wasn’t just the sugar hit that people have been speaking about."
After a return to winning form in Round 10, Carlton is looking at this week's trip to take on Yartapuulti for the chance to build some much-needed consistency.
Speaking to media on Wednesday morning, here's what Interim Coach Josh Fraser had to say.
On what a win has provided this week:
“The boys are energised, winning does that to a group. It’s some affirmation for the work they’ve put in.
“We get a chance to train today and there are things in our game we need to continue to get to work on: there is a good energy amongst the group, and there’s a strong determination to getting better. That’s been led by our leadership group: today presents another opportunity for our group to do that.”
On what worked last week:
“I’ve heard a little bit that it didn’t look too different - I thought parts of the game did. Our consistency over four quarters looked and felt different, the way we were able to manage the game late was different, there were some positional things that we did in-game that may not have been as obvious to people but that gave us a different look in the middle of the ground.
“We’re trying to play a more aggressive style with the ball, which is coming through in parts of the game - that’s not yet consistent, that’s what we’ve got to continue to get to work on. We’re also trying to defend the ground in an aggressive fashion as well.
“I spoke last week about it: as a footy club, we’re continuing to evolve and part of that will be exposing players to different roles and positions. I thought there were some subtle changes last week which should fill us with some confidence.”
On what further changes will come in future weeks:
“We’re pretty considered as a coaching group and as a football club in where we’re heading. We’re trying to make some changes and adjustments as we’ve moved forward: to be honest, we’ve tried to implement a lot of this stuff throughout the year, now it’s about building consistency, evaluating how we do things and what it looks like from a personnel perspective.
“At the end of this home-and-away season, we want to be better placed than where we are right now.”
On how the Blues were able to respond last week:
“Lived experience, educating, training the way we need to be able to execute, giving ownership to players and backing them in at the right time. There’s a process with how you get to a certain point.
“I saw this at Collingwood and saw it done exceptionally well. It wasn’t something that happened overnight, and I think we’re on the path to finding consistency with that.”
On last week’s ‘circuit breaker’:
“I’m conscious of that. Because we’ve got such a long way to go, it’s about building habits and ensuring that last week wasn’t just the sugar hit that people have been speaking about.
“I’ve got confidence in our group, in the way they’re approaching their football, that we cannot only sustained what we produced but build on that. That’ll be our challenge, we haven’t been able to do to that until this point. I’m trying to not look at it like it’s a sugar hit, but that it’s a starting point for something that is more sustainable.”
On planning for Zak Butters against Yartapuulti this weekend:
“We definitely need to be planned for him, and we’re working through that and what it looks like. We’ll have plans for him, and have plans we can go to if those initial plans don’t work. We have to be really well prepared: he’s an outstanding player.
“But it’s not only Zak. Jason Horne-Francis is a really damaging player, in the front half Mitch Georgiades is a guy that can rip a game apart. There’s a number of players that we need to be well-planned and prepared for.
“I think there’s a place for [the hard tag], you need to be planned and ready to adapt. There’s always considerations to what a hard tag does to the rest of the game, but I think there’s still a place for it.”
On Ollie Hollands’ injury:
“I thought he was exceptional last week with his run and his drive. He was a player we were able to expose to a different role throughout the game, he’ll be missed.
“But we have to develop the depth through our list where we can bring somebody else in to perform that role. Ollie off the back of last week was in great form, so whoever gets that opportunity, they’re going to have to step in for us.”
On potential reinforcements from the Carlton Reserves:
“Our VFL team has been in really good form all year. There are a number of players who’ll be considered to come into the side this week: it’s always a balance with bringing players in and how that impacts other areas of your game.
“That’ll be something we consider at match committee, but it’s really pleasing that there are guys at VFL level that are putting their hand up.”
On conversations with Michael Voss last week:
“We’ve exchanged text messages. He was proud of the group, his fingerprints were all over last week’s result - I was really pleased for the players and hopefully ‘Vossy’ found some joy in seeing a victory as well.”
