The recent scars holding Carlton back from Fraser freight train
Updated . First published at
Carlton looks a club reborn under caretaker coach Josh Fraser, having won all three games since parting ways with Michael Voss, including knocking off premiership fancy Geelong last Friday night.
Despite that, Fraser remains adamant that he does not want the job long-term and the club has been cautious with its messaging surrounding him and the situation.
Nic Newman and Patrick Cripps congratulate Josh Fraser after a win. AFL Photos via Getty Images
No doubt, recent scars from an almost identical situation will be flaring up as the Blues navigate this tricky pathway.
Fraser has publicly said he doesn’t feel he’s ready for the job long-term and the club has set up its own panel to begin an exhaustive search to find its next coach.
All of the messaging in that regard has been well constructed, but not everyone is buying it. Western Bulldogs champion Nathan Brown is of the belief that the 44-year-old does want the role, but is playing it down to avoid the public narrative that would follow declaring his hand.
On one hand, Fraser has reinvigorated the club. They’re playing with freedom and flare, young players are taking opportunities with both hands and they’ve shifted to a style of footy more in-line with the modern game, as opposed to Voss’ crash and bash, contest and defence system.
On the other hand, Carlton knows as well as any club what can go wrong when you go all-in on the caretaker coach following what is effectively a sugar rush run of form.
Back in 2019, the Blues sacked coach Brendon Bolton and assistant David Teague took the reins for the remainder of the season.
His run began with a famous comeback victory over Brisbane. He turned a dour and defensive game plan into all-out offensive attack, empowered senior leaders to play their best roles and the club won six of its last 11 games to finish the season.
The ‘Teague Train’ was in full flight. He wanted the job, senior players endorsed him for the role and instead of interviewing others and finding the best person for the role, the Blues got on board and hired him there and then.
David Teague sings the Carlton song after a win with Mitch McGovern and Lachie Plowman. Getty
He was chosen to take a budding young group of highly-drafted talents from the bottom of the ladder to the top of the mountain. It didn’t work.
Carlton was a mediocre team in 2020, and a borderline disaster in 2021. Teague’s offensive system had its merits, but the Blues were a defensive mess and couldn’t compete with the best teams.
Teague was sacked and the Blues found themselves back at square one, needing another new coach. Thus, the Voss era begun.
The club probably won’t admit it, but the scars from hiring the last caretaker coach to turn things around will have them wary of committing to Fraser.
Not to mention, North Melbourne and St Kilda both hired caretaker coaches in the exact same year the Blues locked in Teague, with Rhyce Shaw and Brett Ratten respectively. Neither of those hires worked out and both moved on in similar timeframes.
Which is not to say the Collingwood champion is destined to follow the same fate as Teague, Ratten or Shaw, or that his coaching methods won’t prove to stand the test of time. The scenario is almost unfair on him and he has played it perfectly thus far.
The Blues find themselves in the best position in the club’s recent history to make the right head coaching hire. CEO Graham Wright is as experienced in this space as anybody, and brings with him the recent hiring of Collingwood premiership coach Craig McRae.
Josh Fraser after his second win as Carlton coach. Getty
Chris Davies is a veteran administrator in his own right and Adam Simpson is a recent premiership coach with a burning passion for the industry.
With the messy drama unfolding at Essendon right now following James Hird’s declaration of interest for the vacant coaching role, Carlton, for once, is actually looking like the stable choice.
The field of available coaches is strong. John Longmire would be the top candidate given his extended run of success in Sydney, but underneath him is a number of experienced assistant coaches potentially ready to take the next step, including Geelong’s James Kelly, Collingwood’s Hayden Skipworth, St Kilda’s Corey Enright and Fremantle’s Jaymie Graham, among others.
With the exception of a couple of board members, nobody remains at Princes Park from the group that decided to hire Teague.
Fraser has done an outstanding job bringing some life back to a club that felt like it had been sleepwalking since the beginning of 2025 under Voss.
He’s getting crucial experience into young players and helping the club decide who to persist with beyond 2026. Most importantly, he’s showing everyone interested in the job just how appealing the role could be.
Fraser is also only in his first year at the club. If he remains steadfast on not pursuing the head coaching role, the Blues will surely want him to remain beyond 2026.
But hiring the caretaker coach has been a recipe for disaster across the AFL in the last decade; and Carlton knows that better than anybody.
