HARRY Dean has been dreaming of playing finals in Navy Blue for a long time.

In May, it seemed like a long way away. Less than four months later, he’s on the verge of playing his second.

Thriving on the big occasion last weekend, Dean can’t wait to do it all again when the Blues return to the MCG to take on the Cats in the elimination final.

There’s plenty of unknown leading into the Friday night clash. Can Carlton keep its momentum going? What impact will playing a wildcard final versus having the bye do? Do the Blues have what it takes to maintain their recent run of form against the Cats?

For Dean, however, he’s not asking himself any of those questions. Rather, he’s taking his dad Peter’s advice, who played in no less than 15 finals throughout his Carlton career.

“He just tells me to have fun, that’s the main point,” Dean told media earlier this week.

“Have fun. It’s just another game of football, I guess. If you have butterflies, it means you care - that’s another thing I’ve learned from the old man.”

Dean concedes that last week’s finals win was the biggest ‘pinch yourself’ moment of his football journey to date. There’s still plenty of chapters to be written, but Dean is making a point of taking every step as it comes.

Living Josh Fraser’s mantra of managing the moment, Dean wasn’t fazed by the occasion of playing in front of 91,000 people last weekend.

Instead, he rose to it.

“Saturday night’s game, I was pinching myself when the siren went with 91,000 people there.

“The level of pressure and energy goes up another level for both teams, and it did show. The pressure was hot, the game was pretty quick… I felt like I embraced that level and enjoyed it.

“There’s a lot of positive energy, but we’ve still got a lot to learn. We keep building and building, we’re excited for this week against a very good opposition.”

Dean’s first final came in game No.21. By comparison, his mentor Jacob Weitering didn’t taste finals football until game No.157.

During the week, Weitering said that the AFLPA Best First-Year Player would be better than the 2024 All Australian. For someone who grew up watching Carlton’s defensive general, it was quite the compliment.

Even if he doesn’t exactly agree.

“Probably not! He’s a really good player,” he said.

“He was one of my favourites growing up. To hear that is pretty special, but I’ve still got a long way to go to be like Jacob.”