{"id":751838,"date":"2026-06-22T00:43:29","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T00:43:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/751838\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T00:43:29","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T00:43:29","slug":"afl-2026-josh-fraser-senior-coach-candidate-for-vacant-carlton-blues-job-finals-contention-first-crack-analysis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/751838\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Josh Fraser senior coach candidate for vacant Carlton Blues job, finals contention, First Crack analysis"},"content":{"rendered":"

The positive noise around Josh Fraser continues to grow louder after the interim coach secured his fifth consecutive win in charge<\/a> of the Blues. <\/p>\n

And while he\u2019s previously claimed he doesn\u2019t want the permanent job, he\u2019s ticking the boxes as a genuine candidate for the gig, should he change his mind. But there\u2019s a cautionary tale at Princes Park. <\/p>\n

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Carlton is now 5-0 in the post-Michael Voss era – with several winnable fixtures upcoming – and the multiple changes Fraser has been able to influence mean Blues fans can dare to dream about finals. <\/p>\n

Their fifth triumph came over the Giants on Saturday, with the 14th-placed Blues moving to within one win and percentage of Gold Coast in ninth spot. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt is the Josh Fraser effect. It\u2019s been an extraordinary turnaround, and significantly, the biggest defensive turnaround in the game under this man,\u201d First Crack\u2019s Jay Clark said on Sunday night on Fox Footy. <\/p>\n

\u201cFive weeks ago, if you\u2019d said Carlton was going to make finals, we wouldn\u2019t have believed you \u2026 but they\u2019ve gone 5-0, they\u2019ve got West Coast and Richmond to come, and it could be 7-0. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat does Graham Wright do about Josh Fraser if he makes it into finals? Because at the moment, it\u2019s going to be the most examined force in football over the next 48 hours. <\/p>\n

At the heart of what the Blues are doing is what Clark called \u201ca defensive masterclass\u201d, with Fraser\u2019s charges making head-turning improvements from the Voss era. <\/p>\n

RELATED: \u2018Ask the Knicks\u2019: Wild Blues finals \u2018reality\u2019; Pies warned over \u2018dangerous\u2019 trade play<\/a><\/p>\n

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – JUNE 07: Josh Fraser has impressed as interim coachSource: Getty Images<\/p>\n

CARLTON UNDER VOSS
Points against: 15th
Score per inside-50 against: 12th
Chain-to-score against: 14th
Defensive 50 to inside-50 against: 16th<\/p>\n

CARLTON UNDER FRASER
Points against: 2nd
Score per inside-50 against: 2nd
Chain-to-score against: 2nd
Defensive 50 to inside-50 against: 4th<\/p>\n

\u201cUnder Michael Voss, they leaked like a sieve \u2026 under Fraser, they are holding up the opposition,\u201d Clark said. <\/p>\n

\u201cNot only their overall score, but even when the ball gets inside 50, the opposition is finding it very hard to score. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s down to organisation, the pressure has gone through the roof, the structure, the commitment from the players – that\u2019s at the heart of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The backline has been held up by Rising Star candidate Harry Dean – who had nine intercepts against the Giants – and shrewd recruit Wade Derksen in the injury absence of Jacob Weitering. <\/p>\n

But Carlton\u2019s marked improvement under the interim coach isn\u2019t limited to defensive performance, with the Blues also making strides in crucial offensive measures. <\/p>\n

They\u2019re now punishing teams off more front-half turnovers, in a way they weren\u2019t able to under Voss. <\/p>\n

UNDER VOSS
Forward-half intercepts: 16th
Points from forward half: 16th
Points from turnover: 16th<\/p>\n

UNDER FRASER
Forward-half intercepts: 6th
Points from forward half: 9th
Points from turnover: 12th<\/p>\n

Watch the full First Crack breakdown below:<\/p>\n

What is the Fraser effect? | 06:20<\/p>\n

Fraser has stated on numerous occasions that he doesn\u2019t want the head-coaching gig at Carlton on a permanent basis, but the noise of support is growing for the former Collingwood ruckman. <\/p>\n

Clark ran through his seven-point checklist for Fraser to win the long-term Blues job, with three prerequisites already ticked off. <\/p>\n

– Make finals (question mark)
– Modern game style (yes)
– Develop talent (yes)
– Foster environment (yes)
– Manage club (question mark)
– Perform under pressure (question mark)
– Desire to do the job (question mark)<\/p>\n

\u201cLet\u2019s be honest – he (Fraser) was nowhere at the start of this process. To storm home, he needs to make finals – that means they need to win six of their last nine games,\u201d Clark continued. <\/p>\n

\u201cModern game style – that\u2019s what they wanted from Voss, and he wasn\u2019t able to deliver that. This is seemingly that. <\/p>\n

\u201cCan you manage the club? That\u2019s a question mark, because this is still the honeymoon period. And then can they perform under pressure? <\/p>\n

\u201cAt the moment, this is a free swing – there\u2019s no pressure, no expectation. If they are in the mix for finals, then that will start to ramp up. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd does he have the desire to do the job? You can\u2019t pick a bloke who, for all intents and purposes, says that he is not ready. So that would have to change throughout the back half of the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three games are set to make or break the Blues\u2019 shock finals bid: Hawthorn in Round 18, Brisbane in Round 21, and Fremantle in Round 24. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re tougher games; that\u2019s when the expectations and pressure rise, and that\u2019s where, traditionally, Carlton has failed,\u201d Clark said. <\/p>\n

Lyon: “We all like a bit of theatre” | 08:30<\/p>\n

Asked if he thought Fraser was a serious coaching contender at Carlton, dual All-Australian Leigh Montagna said on First Crack: \u201cHe\u2019s certainly given them some questions. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s going to give them headaches, because I think, it sounded like, Graham Wright ideally wasn\u2019t going to waver in trying to find the best first-time coach. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s where he\u2019s been able to be successful in the past – identifying Sam Mitchell and Craig McRae – and I think they probably still want to go down that path. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think the wins and losses are important, but you\u2019ve also got to factor in what it\u2019s like to play now with the anxiety-free football they\u2019re playing. How much do you take that into consideration, that there is no pressure on them at the moment? <\/p>\n

\u201cBecause that\u2019s got to be a factor, and I suppose that\u2019s why you want to see more body of work at the back end of the season, when the pressure ramps up again \u2026 to see how they handle it and how the team responds.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two-time flag-winner David King mentioned that previous Carlton interim-turned-permanent-coach David Teague won five of his first seven games in charge. <\/p>\n

\u201cIn the last 11 games (in 2019), he went 6-5. Then he was given the gig, because the groundswell of support was enormous,\u201d King said. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey go 7-10 the next year and finish 11th, 8-14 the year after that to finish 13th, and he\u2019s gone. So that, to me, is something that they\u2019ll find difficult to erase. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey can\u2019t (punish Fraser for that), but you can learn from history, can\u2019t you? You don\u2019t have to necessarily punish someone, but you\u2019ve got to make this a factor. <\/p>\n

\u201cPaul Roos – he won five of his last six games when he took over (as caretaker) \u2026 next year they made the prelim, then they made the semi, then they won the grand final. That\u2019s (the success) you\u2019re talking about.\u201d<\/p>\n

King, overall, stated his opinion that Fraser\u2019s ability to \u201ccoach the game\u201d is not a \u201cseparating factor\u201d compared to other prospective candidates. <\/p>\n

\u201cAll the (candidates) who sit in front of that panel will be able to coach \u2026 managing the club, handling the pressure of the role, being able to be cutting edge – all those things in the one package are bloody hard to find,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s why teams have gone 10 years without finding one.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser will certainly answer more coaching questions when he appears as a guest on Fox Footy\u2019s AFL 360 on Monday night. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The positive noise around Josh Fraser continues to grow louder after the interim coach secured his fifth consecutive…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":751839,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-751838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-afl","tag-afl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australian-football-league","tag-australianfootballleague","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=751838"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/751838\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/751839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=751838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=751838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=751838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}