IN JOSH Fraser’s first interview as Carlton’s new permanent AFL Senior Coach, he keeps coming back to two words.

“Leadership and authenticity.”

Fraser has already brought that in spades throughout his tenure as Interim Coach, and on the back of Tuesday’s announcement that he will be the man to lead the Blues forward, he doesn’t see that approach changing.

The typically humble Fraser spoke of the importance of character across the football program, saying that he believed the Club already had that quality and that he was “really confident we’ve got a lot of the right people here”.

“I just think the people make up this football club, that’s what makes it so special,” Fraser said.

“I’m excited by that challenge, bringing the Club to life and making sure that while we’re ambitious, we stay humble and respect but judged by our deeds and actions. I think that’s going to be a really important thing for us.

“I value character… I’m really confident we’ve got a lot of the right people here. As we continue to move forward, we’ll keep adding great people to the Club and collectively strive for something that’s sustainable.”

Fraser’s development background has been spoken about at large over the last few months, as has his history of coaching his own teams - firstly in the NEAFL with Gold Coast, then in the VFL with the Northern Blues, Northern Bullants and Collingwood, before his initial interim stint in charge of Carlton at the elite level.

Over that term, Fraser’s coaching philosophy and principles have grown, and a key part of it all comes back to the fundamentals of the game.

“I think they’re critical. I have a strong development background and know the importance of being able to execute your fundamentals at a high level.

“I’m authentic as a coach, what you see is what you get. I value character in a football club and in a playing group. I’m big on standards, the standards you rise and fall to on game day.

“The connection piece we speak about, but you have to be really well-connected to your players on a deep level so there’s great trust there, and you can have those conversations that matter.”

The Blues have clearly taken to Fraser’s game style, from both a playing perspective as well as a supporter base which Fraser hails for their “huge passion”.

Given he’s had 13 games at the helm, the shift has been a positive one - but Fraser is confident that there is still more to come.

“I think we’re in the infancy of seeing what it will look like. There’s been some encouraging change already, but we have to develop other ways to play, taking into account that teams will throw something different at you.

“We want to be attacking with the ball, we want to be attacking in the way we defend and we want to continue to lean on the foundation of contest and stoppage. Ultimately, it’ll be about challenging teams with the way we move the ball but also in a way we can defend behind.

“Our supporter base seems really connected to what we’re doing on-field.”