"THAT'S BEEN really evident - that determination to acknowledge the shortcomings of last week and get to work.”
Carlton AFL Interim Coach Josh Fraser is looking for his side to respond against a dangerous opponent on Saturday.
Speaking to media from IKON Park on Thursday, here's what he had to say.
The latest on Harry McKay:
“Harry will be an assess today. It’s not so much a cautious approach, but we’ll set him up to be able to get through training - we’ll make a call on him this afternoon.
“[His movement] hasn’t been too bad, we’ve taken the approach that we need to see him train to declare him available for selection. That’s what today represents.
“I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about [the commentary]: whenever someone is injured, your mind goes to the care for the player. We act on the information given by our medical team - I push the commentary to the side and make sure I’m giving the support the player needs.
“He’s in question for this weekend. He needs to get through training: I’m not a surgeon or a doctor, but we need to see him move at a certain level before we can deem him fit for selection.
“He’s presented his usual self. He has great energy around the group, he’s trying as hard as he can to play and leading internally around the Club. That’s how he’s presented.”
On Adam Cerra’s selection chances:
“’Cez’ is moving pretty well. He’s someone who needs to get through training, but he seems quietly confident he’ll get through.”
On the wash-up from last week’s Collingwood review:
“I thought for large parts we played the way we wanted to, but there was enough in the game where we didn’t absorb their pressure well enough. Our inside-50 entries weren’t clean enough. We weren’t able to change the way we moved the ball going inside 50 when we lost Harry.
“Really simplistically, we didn’t take enough chances in front of goal. We had three shots that didn’t score. Those moments in the game can hurt you, against a team that has played their system for a long period of time.
“We’re still trying to build an identity. They’re the takeaways for us.”
On the latest response to questions about his future:
“Nothing has changed for me. The only thing that’s changed is correcting some things in our game to go out and earn the result this week.
I understand why the questions are asked, I really do. But nothing has really changed for me in nine weeks.
“I’m so focused on setting this club up, and my part is to help do that. Some of it is about outcome, but some of it is around process and making sure we’re continuing to challenge our playing group to get better.”
On treating this game like an early elimination final:
“Not in that context, but clearly there are some things at stake that aren’t at stake for every team this weekend. It’s more than that for us - it’s building consistency in the way we play.
"There are things in our game that we need to improve on, part of that will be training today and seeing a more consistent approach over four quarters.
“What I’ve loved about our group is they turn up on Monday and want to get better. That’s been really evident - that determination to acknowledge the shortcomings of last week and get to work.”
On the threat Gold Coast possesses:
“Like every team, we plan for their best - and their best is good, really good. They’ve got talent across the field, their ability to open the game up through forward handball and taking the ball off the line makes them a dangerous side.
“We respect that, we know we’re going to have to improve parts of our game. Our contest is going to have to be really strong.
“Sometimes the win-loss column can distort what clubs exactly are capable of, but we’re fully aware of what they’ll bring.”
On a potential return for Marc Pittonet:
“He’s a guy that will also need to get through today, we’ve got a couple in that boat. He’s improving: there are some boxes to tick around his role more specifically and how we set him up for the game if he’s able to get through.”
On whether some new names could roll through in the next five weeks:
“The answer is yes, we will. Our VFL had a bye on the weekend which makes things a little challenging from a selection perspective, although there’s enough evidence now around form.
“We want to continue to give guys an opportunity, providing their VFL form and training form stacks up. We’d be doing a disservice to the playing group and the player if we picked them and weren’t ready.
“Absolutely it’s a consideration from week to week.”
