EIGHT points under the roof.
Carlton's AFL and AFLW sides both came away from a Marvel Stadium double header with big wins, prompting AFL Interim Coach Josh Fraser to label it "a terrific night for our footy club".
Speaking to media post-match, here's what he had to say.
On what the game meant for him:
“My preference tonight is to not make it about me if possible. The reason I say that is it’s a terrific night for our footy club.
“Our AFLW team got a win tonight and you see the work they put in consistently. On-field, it was another step forward for our playing group. Right now, I feel a lot of gratitude for the people that surround me, an incredible coaching staff and people internally.
“A lot of the credit for tonight’s performance should be shared.”
On the appreciation from the Club’s fans:
“That’s real. We want to play a style of football that energises our fans - we’ve been open about that.
“Each week, it’s felt like that energy has built just that little bit more. It plays a part: our players love playing in front of our supporters, they turn up unconditionally and that energy we’ve created has been a real thing for us.
“I appreciate they feel connected to us as a club at the moment, and that’s a really important thing for us moving forward. We live in reality, we’ve got work in front of us and continue to build our style and build something sustainable.”
On the AFLW-AFL double header:
“You talk about being a product of so many great people: the work that goes into a day like today is huge, for a lot of people that don’t get a lot of credit for the work they do behind the scenes.
“It was fantastic to turn up and watch the AFLW team play an exciting brand of footy. I’ve seen the work they’ve put in: they’re in the building daily and a really important part of our footy club. To connect their performance, our performance and combined with the crowd, it was special to be part of.”
On the Club’s wildcard chances:
“I don’t know about ‘daring to dream’. The thing taking us forward is attaching ourselves to the work we need to do. Pre-game I was asked about us being favourites, and I don’t look at that: we have to make sure we turn up on game day and prepare as well as we possibly can.
“One of the things that has pleased me enormously is we’re coming up against quality opposition, which you do every week - this competition is hard to win in. You’ve got to be good enough and prepared enough to take things away from other teams, and you’ve got to be good enough and prepared enough to play your style of football.
“That’s the space we’ve grown in. Maybe in the past, the Club has ridden the wave of outcomes. We’re more around what we can build and remain sustainable.
“I’m sure [the players] have a high awareness of where this sits in the scheme of things. It’s important we sit in the wins, but not ride this wave. Enjoy what tonight represented, understand how we got the result and then get back to work.”
On the team’s growth each week, and how they will approach the next fortnight:
“It’s been about managing momentum when we don’t have it and managing momentum when we do. The connection piece on-field has also been really important to us.
“Part of that is getting your job done, part of that is also helping someone else get their job done. That’s another space where we’re growing.
“Performances and results this week don’t guarantee anything next week. We have to be good enough to review the game in a balanced fashion and get to work on the parts of the game we need to and continue to reinforce the parts of the game we’re doing well.
“We’ve been consistent enough for a while with what our Monday to Friday looks like for me to think that we’re building something, but we’re far from finished.”
On a widespread team performance:
“The growth in this group is we’re not heavily reliant on three or four individuals. We’re starting to spread that load. Importantly, our leaders are starting to empower others and don’t feel like they have to put the cape on and do miraculous things.
“It looks like an even spread of contributors and players playing their role. That’s been pleasing.”
On winning the disposal and tackle count convincingly:
“The goals have been great, but I’ve been more energised by the pressure we’re applying to teams and being okay to sit in an arm wrestle. To not necessarily have the game on your terms, that’s been an aspect I’ve enjoyed seeing our players work through.
“Relentless pressure, one after another, a connected system defensively with all lines contributing. It’s not perfect, but it’s grown. The tackle pressure and source pressure has been an important thing for us.
“People point to our offence, and our offence has grown. But we’ve done a lot of work in linking our offence and defence together, how we defend the ground and how that gives us the opportunity to move the ball. Ash Hansen has done a great job leading what our defensive system looks like.
“Our coaching group have an equal buy-in to the way we go about that, I think being able to link those phases has helped our players.”
On Jacob Weitering’s potential return:
“It was great to see him progress and get some time through the VFL. I’m not going to sit here and do selection for this week, but he’ll come into consideration - as will other players. That’s been a positive, that we’ve taken the best approach for the player and the best approach for the team.”
On Francis Evans’ performance:
“He was bloody good, wasn’t he? He’s a guy that in pre-season when I came back to the Club, he was so reliable with the system and his role. Even last week, he wasn’t huge in terms of possessions, but his tackles and pressure and those things he brings, he’s been fantastic.
“He’s had a great season, a really good season. You combine him with Talor Byrne in our front half and Benny Ainsworth, there’s some excitement there.”
On Adam Cerra, who left the field in the last term with cramp:
“’Cez’ is fine, we got through unscathed.”
