WHILE everyone wants to talk about everything related to Carlton right now, Josh Fraser is happy to just keep the conversation about the footy.

The Interim Coach spoke to media on Thursday morning ahead of the Blues' Round 16 encounter with the Eagles: here's what he had to say.

On Jacob Weitering:

“He’s progressing well. We’ve got training shortly, that’ll be another obstacle he needs to get over. There’s nothing to suggest he won’t be available for selection, that’ll be something we’ll consider post-training around what the make-up of our team looks like. He’s progressed really well.

“We’re more than comfortable [with how we’ve approached it]. It ties into what we’re doing at the moment, making sure we’re really considered and measured, doing the best thing for the team any given week and for the Club more broadly. We’re really comfortable with how he’s tracking.”

On Harry Dean’s form in Weitering’s absence:

“Pleasantly surprised, but not completely surprised given we’ve had the opportunity to watch him up close over pre-season and see the competitive nature he brings and the type of character he is. We’re really pleased for him that he’s playing at such a high level.

“Is it surprising? Externally it could be with how well he’s played, but internally we’ve got a lot of belief in Harry: he’s going to be a fantastic player for the Club for a long period of time.”

On the biggest change in recent weeks:

“It has evolved, and that’s what we wanted to do from the day the change was made. We wanted to be considered with how we evolved the program, focused on what Monday to Friday looked like. It’s important that we do today really well, those sorts of messages.

“We’ve been deliberate with parts of the game we’ve wanted to grow. We’re far from a finished product in that space. We’ve taken some steps forward which has been encouraging, but there’s been some deliberate planning around what our contest method looks like and how that sets us up both in offence and defence.

“We’ve tried some players in different roles which we feel like has helped our game, and we’ll continue to look at that as we continue to move forward.”

On improvements in communication on-field:

“It’s grown, and that’s something that we’ve been chasing for a little while. We’ve been putting energy into what that looks like, both how it comes out on game day and just as importantly, how we train it. That’s been some ownership from our leadership group, but it’s not just exclusive to them - every player has a responsibility.

“I think every club is chasing on-field connection. You’ve got to continue to find ways to do it differently so it hits the mark. That’s the space we’re in as a coaching group: we’re looking at how we can do things differently and challenge players. The best clubs I’ve been at do it really well - we’ve still got work in front of us there.”

On the Blues being two games away from an even ledger:

“I’m sure this won’t come as a surprise when I say I haven’t even looked at that, and I haven’t put the time and energy into that. I can’t stress this enough, we are focussed on today. I understand that messaging can be a bit mundane, but I feel really strongly about where we’re at as a footy club and stacking days on top of each other.

“We’ve got an opponent this weekend who are a dangerous opponent, that can play exciting footy. I really like what West Coast are doing, and it’s important for us to set ourselves up well to go out and play and get a result. Nothing is given, we’ve got to make sure we do today really well.”

On what the focus was during the bye to implement in the next block:

“It gave us a chance to take a breath and consider where our game is at, plus consider what parts of the game we need to get after. It wasn’t anything stark, it was more ‘this is where we’ve grown, but we’ve got to continue to grow’.

“The way teams defend the ground feeds into the way they attack, it’s something we’ve been working really hard on. It gave us a chance to reset and look at where some individuals were at, and how we can continue to grow their games. It’s been a continuation of what we’ve been trying to do, it just gave us some more time to focus in on those things.”

On the prospect of Harley Reid this weekend:

“That’s given me something to think about. They’re exciting, aren’t they? I really like what ‘Mini’ McQualter is doing with West Coast. When you talk about evolving, their identity has evolved. Harley is clearly going to be a fantastic player over time.

“This weekend, you’ll see - from both sides - some really exciting young talent. The game is in pretty exciting shape when you consider the young players who’ll be running around at Marvel on Saturday, hopefully in front of a full house of Carlton supporters who have been fantastic for us and give us great energy.”

On ditching the hoodie for the jacket in the press conference:

“The one I’m wearing is getting faded, I need to space out the wearings of it and save it for game day. I haven’t thought much about the hoodie… other than I’ll keep wearing it.”