"YOU HAVE to be careful with how much you draw into history and not taking your eyes off what’s in front of you."
There'll be no looking back for Carlton leading into Friday night's elimination final against Geelong.
Here's what AFL Senior Coach Josh Fraser had to say.
On the feeling amongst the group heading into Friday:
"We’re excited. It’s a great opportunity for us against a quality team: we feel like we’re in reasonable form at the moment and we know they’ll be at their best. We’re embracing the opportunity that comes with this weekend."
On the difference in preparation between the two sides:
"I haven’t spent any time thinking about the benefit of either, other than that we have to prepare and have done really well for what’s coming. They’ll be well-rested, we’ll be battle-hardened. You can create your own narrative around that, but there’ll be no excuses around being prepared to go and perform.
"My preference is we’re still alive. Given the context of our season and the fact we’re still playing in an elimination final, we’ll take whatever is in front of us. It’s a shorter turnaround for us, but it just means we need to be really deliberate and precise with how we go about it and prepare. There’ll be no excuses around being ready."
On Carlton's recent history against Geelong:
"I don’t have a strong answer on it, other than historically teams do match up strongly against other sides. What I do know about them is the quality of the team they are and have been for a long period of time.
"Sometimes when you’ve been so good for so long, opposition teams embrace the challenge of taking on sides like Geelong - that’s not a definitive answer as to why we match up well against them, but we’re excited about what this opportunity presents for us as a club to test ourselves and see where we’re at. There’s a lot at stake - you lose and you’re done. They’ve been an incredible club for a long period of time, and so much of what they’ve been able to build is something we can aspire to moving forward.
"I haven’t referenced it, and I probably won’t. Each opportunity that’s in front of you is unique and different. You can probably lean on the last time we played on in terms of the context of the way the game was played, what worked and what didn’t. But then again, you might be stretching a bit because we’re a different team to what we were back then, and they’re a different team. You have to be careful with how much you draw into history and not taking your eyes off what’s in front of you. The evidence they’ve put forward for a long period of time is they’re going to be a really difficult opponent."
On sticking to the process, despite the occasion:
"We’ve spoken a lot about what we’ve built and what it looks like, that’s the evidence for us to maintain. There’s the acknowledgement of how they’ll play and what they’ll bring. It’s less about the motivation around recent history and more about what we need to be able to do to perform at a high level.
"That’s the same approach we’ve had for 15 weeks, and I’m convinced that’s the right way forward for us: that we stay process-orientated and continue to build this brand of football which will help take us forward."
On Will Hayward potentially returning:
"He’s got to train, he needs to get through training and then make an assessment on whether he’s fit to perform. That’s the same approach we’ve taken with all our players this year. We’re hopeful he’s in a better place this time around compared to last week.
"He did a power of work to get to a point to be considered last week, but ultimately we felt like he wasn’t ready. I know he’s left no stone unturned in terms of being ready to play... He’s an important part of what we’ve done so far this year, and if he’s fully fit, he’ll be a great addition for us."
On Nick Haynes:
"He was a bit sore post-game and he’s slowly progressed throughout the week. He’ll need to train again today to prove his fitness, we’re hopeful on that. He’s tough and resilient, so he’ll give himself every chance."
On who gets the Oisin Mullin match-up:
"Walsh, Smith, Cripps - we’ve got a few guys playing reasonable football. We’re clearly not privy to [Geelong’s] thinking, but our guys will all be well-prepared if that happens. He’s been such an influential player for them over the course of the season, being able to nullify team’s midfielders. Our boys - all of them - will be prepared for him in some capacity."
On how Smith will cope with a potential tag:
"I think he’ll be fine. It’ll be another learning opportunity for him: he’s a kid that has embraced everything that has been thrown at him. Highly competitive, he’ll have great support around him from his teammates. There aren’t too many scenarios where I’m concerned about how Jagga will handle it. That doesn’t guarantee anything of course, but I don’t think it’ll rattle him too much."
On how the Blues approach Max Holmes' potential selection:
"We have to be prepared for him to play and for him to not be available. He’s an incredible player that adds a lot to their side, at this stage I’m erring towards him being available.
"What we’ve tried to do a fair bit is not tie ourselves up in knots around the opposition, but continue to focus on what our football looks like. We’ve got some guys that can accumulate the ball as well, it’s always a balance - being well-prepared for the opposition’s strengths but making sure you’re prepared to bring yours to the table."
On the support the Club continues to receive:
"I’ve been blown away by the support they’ve given the Club. This is something that pre-existed me being here. The passion they’ve got for the football club… something we talk about a lot is how our style of football connects to our supporters on game day. How it looks for them, how it makes us feel. They’ve been incredible. I’m grateful for all the support I’ve had from our fans, and broadly I know our players love playing in front of big crowds. I’m sure we’ll get that on Friday night."
On what Jacob Weitering has provided:
"He was pretty important last week! It’s an absolute credit to ‘Deany’ and Wade Derksen and Nick Haynes and others who stood up as a collective. But it’s quite easy to forget the quality of playing that you’re missing.
"We had a really deliberate approach and making sure we set Jacob up as well as we possibly could to return, that included coming back through the VFL. Then you get a performance like you did the other night, he just showed the football world again the quality of player he is and one we value highly."
On Cooper Lord:
"Really diligent, disciplined, great character, works hard. Everything you’d want in a young player. He maximises his talent and has parts of his game he’s continuing to grow. We’ve given him a couple of big assignments over the last fortnight and he’s handled them really well. He’s a guy that has been important to us."
On Michael Voss' comments earlier in the week:
"I’ve spoken about ‘Vossy’ previously and my admiration for him, I only worked with him for a short period of time but I enjoyed that time we had together and have the utmost respect for him as a person. He’s an outstanding person.
"He’d have a strong affinity and relationships with our playing group, it speaks to his character that he’s incredibly exciting for the opportunity they’ve got. I can imagine he’d be throwing nothing but support behind our players."
On being involved in list management decisions:
"I’ve dipped my toe into some of those list management discussions, but I’ve been more immersed in our game this weekend. At the right time, I’ll become more involved. We’ve got some incredibly experienced football people in Chris Davies and Graham Wright that will be handling a lot of that, I’ve got complete confidence in those guys. At the right time, I’ll be able to get more involved in some of those chats."
On how the players are dealing with occasion:
"I referenced the rollercoaster, I’m not on that and neither are the players. One of our great strengths is we’ve been able to enjoy the win for what it’s been, and regroup and reset pretty quickly to focus on what’s ahead. I haven’t sensed at all that this group is getting ahead of themselves, it’s been reasonable to lean into the occasion which we’ve been doing.
"It’s a really exciting time of the year to be playing football. We understand where we’re at and understand we’ve got work in front of us, but with that said, we want to embrace this opportunity to play against Geelong. There’s plenty on the line - you win you keep going, you lose you don’t."
