‘Perfection’: Carlton fans chant clear message to club on coaching hunt
Carlton fans have made their opinion clear, chanting “we want Fraser” during the fourth quarter of the club’s dominant win over St Kilda on Sunday night.
Josh Fraser took over as interim coach of the Blues with the club 16th on the ladder, 1-8 and floundering under Michael Voss.
Josh Fraser led the Blues to another win on Sunday night. Getty Images
From that point onwards, the Blues are 10-2 with Fraser at the helm and boasting the best record in the AFL across the last three months.
They’ve all-but sown up a spot in the league’s new Wildcard Round, and might just make the traditional top eight regardless.
The club remains on the hunt for its next senior coach, with St Kilda assistant Corey Enright, Fremantle’s Jaymie Graham, Hawthorn’s Daniel Giansiracusa and Geelong’s James Kelly seen as the finalists.
Fraser will be added to that mix if he puts up his hand, which he is expected to, but to this point he has kept his focus on the club as a whole and refused to make it about himself.
Despite being asked the same question for 12 weeks, the interim coach has refused to say whether he will enter the coaching race.
“My preference tonight is to not make it about me if possible, and the reason I say that it is it’s a terrific night for our footy club,” Fraser said after the win.
“Our AFLW girls got a win tonight, and you see the work that they put in consistently, and on-field it was another step forward for our playing group.
“I do appreciate the questions around me, but right now, I feel a lot of gratitude for the people that surround me and an incredible coaching staff and people internally. I think a lot of the credit around tonight’s performance should be shared.”
North Melbourne champion David King believes Fraser has run a “first-class” campaign for the job, without ever putting his hand up for it.
“Perfect, isn’t it? It is the epitome of perfection,” King told SEN on Monday.
“This is absolutely first-class what he’s doing.
“He’s developed a game plan now that has more punish than Carlton’s ever had. So they don’t necessarily have to dominate clearance. They don’t even have to dominate for intercept because when they do win the ball back they get it on the scoreboard and that’s, I think, the feature of the new age coaches.
“I look at Steven King and the Demons. They’re very similar. The way that they are excited and explode and it works for everyone.”
Geelong premiership player Cameron Mooney believes Fraser’s interview for the job, should he have one, will be reasonably straightforward.
“His resume is right there; 10-2. You’d walk in, (put that) on the whiteboard, and walk out of the room,” he told Fox Footy on Sunday night.
Carlton ruckman Marc Pittonet celebrates the win over St Kilda. AFL Photos via Getty Images
Brisbane champion Jonathan Brown gave his thoughts later in the night, saying: “I’ll fall over if he doesn’t get the job, honestly”.
King believes it’s still important for Carlton to see the process through to its conclusion and ensure they tick every box.
“I still think it’s wise to go through the process and make sure that (Fraser’s) got all points of the compass covered and work out where he’s short, and say, ‘OK, we think you’re short here, maybe we need to fatten the edges, get this type of person into support, that type of person into support’, and if he’s happy with that, then you’re rolling,” he said.
“If he’s not happy with that, then you say, ‘Well, hang on, now we’ve got a problem’. I’m sure it’ll be fine, you just got to get your hands on the wheel.
“There’s only 18 jobs available in the country. How could you say no to it? How could you knock it back?”
Carlton is not expected to make a call on their coach until the end of their season. They have stated they will not announce a candidate from outside the club while Fraser and his team are still alive.
