Voss declared \u201cthe results might just demand\u201d Fraser is given the role<\/a>.<\/p>\nTo really simplify it, imagine if you had a long-time gardener who wasn\u2019t doing a good job and you gave the flick to. Then, while you set out to find a new gardener, the interim replacement is doing impeccable work and available.<\/p>\n
With that bizarre analogy, let\u2019s look at the key improvements under Fraser and insights from one of the people who will be selecting the new coach. <\/p>\n
Carlton extend winning streak to 5 | 02:38<\/p>\n
METHOD, PLAYER IMPROVEMENTS<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s start with the method.<\/p>\n
So much talk has been around how Carlton is playing a more free-flowing brand under Fraser. As if there\u2019s been a pressure release.<\/p>\n
But a renewed defensive focus has been a hallmark, with the club giving up scores of 62, 58, 84, 67 and 65 respectively under the caretaker coach.<\/p>\n
Of course, that\u2019s not exclusive to the back six, evident by how well they\u2019ve defended in their last two games without star stopper Jacob Weitering.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s as much about full-ground pressure and nullifying teams from being able to move the ball, which Carlton is suddenly ranked among the best sides in the competition at.<\/p>\n
Which has gone hand-in-hand with the Blues\u2019 ability to control the ball itself. As they say, your best mode of defence is offence.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still think we credit Voss for the contest work, that has been a foundation,\u201d Hawks great Jordan Lewis told On the Couch.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut when we look at defence, it\u2019s not necessarily to do with groundballs in defensive 50, spoils or defensive acts. A lot of is attributed to how they move the ball, their uncontested marks have gone through the roof.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lewis suggested players were \u201cmore energised\u201d on game day in a credit to the way Fraser has set up the week and prepared the team. <\/p>\n
\u201cYou can see it, it is clear and it is evident. Your eyes tell you they are a pressure team now, it\u2019s part of their identity,\u201d Lewis added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are certainly finding momentum.<\/p>\n
\u201c(Increased uncontested marks) is a lever you pull to save your defence, in a way, and not make it a shootout.<\/p>\n
\u201cDefence is one part of their game that\u2019s been under question. So, control the ball a bit more, build it up, less risk through the middle of the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich means they\u2019re not as vulnerable behind the ball. That\u2019s been a clear shift, the stats say that\u2019s been a clear shift.\u201d<\/p>\n
Blues under Voss<\/p>\n
Points against: 15th<\/p>\n
Score per inside-50 against: 12th<\/p>\n
Chain-to-score against: 14th<\/p>\n
Defensive 50 to inside-50 against: 16th<\/p>\n
Blues under Fraser<\/p>\n
Points against: 2nd<\/p>\n
Score per inside-50 against: 2nd<\/p>\n
Chain-to-score against: 2nd<\/p>\n
Defensive 50 to inside-50 against: 4th<\/p>\n
“Tricky situation”: Cody Walker watch | 05:54<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the improvement from players. <\/p>\n
No one has personified that more than star skipper Patrick Cripps, who\u2019s looked more like the dual Brownlow medallist we\u2019re accustomed to after a slow start to the season, at least by his lofty standards.<\/p>\n
Cripps has been the AFL\u2019s No. 12 ranked player over the last five games and just looks a different beast. <\/p>\n
Recruit Will Hayward has also shown off some of his best form under Fraser as the N0. 91 ranked player. And in fairness, it was always going to take some time for the Blues recruits and team as a whole to mesh after so many list changes in the off-season. <\/p>\n
Harry McKay (No. 88 ranked player) and Jagga Smith (No. 85) are among the others that have improved since Fraser took the helm. <\/p>\n
Along with Smith, youngsters Billy Wilson, Jack Ison, Harry Dean and Talor Byrne have provided an exuberance of youth.<\/p>\n
And veterans George Hewett and Blake Acres have recaptured some of their best form after spending time in the VFL earlier this season.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt helps if some your better players being in better form, led by Cripps,\u201d triple premiership Lion Jonathan Brown said.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously there was talk he could be leaving at the start of the year and he was well below form. <\/p>\n
\u201cSomeone even said he should get dropped, I\u2019m not sure about that! \u2018Crippa\u2019 has been amazing the last few weeks.<\/p>\n
\u201cJagga Smith is growing into his first season as an AFL footballer, getting the pace of the game and he\u2019s getting plenty of centre ball up time.<\/p>\n
\u201cHayward has gone onto the wing and been good. And Harry McKay a bit more in the ruck, what we saw two or three years ago, he\u2019s playing with a bit more presence.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carlton\u2019s big improvers since Round 10<\/p>\n
Harry McKay – No. 336 to No. 88 (+248)<\/p>\n
Will Hayward – No. 297 to No. 91 (+206)<\/p>\n
Jagga Smith – No. 220 to 85 (+135)<\/p>\n
Patrick Cripps – No. 90 to 12 (+78)<\/p>\n
Voss: ‘No appetite for coaching’ | 00:44<\/p>\n
A WORD FROM SIMMO<\/p>\n
As Tigers champion Jack Riewoldt pointed out, Blues chief executive Graham Wright has picked a coach \u201cfrom obscurity before.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wright was part of Collingwood\u2019s selection panel that appointed Craig McRae, who Riewoldt estimated was \u201cprobably 500-1\u201d to coach the Pies at one stage.<\/p>\n
That, along with early murmurings that the Blues have interest in other untried coaches, should also work in Fraser\u2019s favour.<\/p>\n
Not to mention that Fraser was something of a left-field candidate to replace Voss as interim coach in the first place, so clearly Blues insiders saw something in him.<\/p>\n
Eagles premiership boss Adam Simpson, who\u2019s on the selection panel to pick Carlton\u2019s next coach, likes what he\u2019s seeing including how well Fraser has handled himself in the media.<\/p>\n
Simpson also noted how Fraser has kept things simple for the group and praised his understanding of the game. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe rhetoric around Josh is he\u2019s a learning and evolving coach. He\u2019s done so much, hasn\u2019t he?,\u201d Simpson said on AFL 360.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think winning five in a row has clearly changed the narrative a bit.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut the media stuff has really surprised me, how well he\u2019s handled every question.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe way he\u2019s gone through that, focused on two or three points on game day and how they scout an opposition, all those types of things. You can tell the X\u2019s and O\u2019s is not an issue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the rest of the coaching you probably don\u2019t see day to day, week to week, when you\u2019re interim coach. That\u2019s the next phase for him.\u201d <\/p>\n
Voss on ‘difficulty’ of watching Blues | 01:24<\/p>\n
Simpson did point out the senior coaching tasks that can be missing for interim coaches, like list management, dealing with the board and hiring and firing staff. <\/p>\n
But 14 weeks in the top job is just about as good an apprenticeship as you\u2019re going to get.<\/p>\n
And, at least from the outside, it would appear Fraser has excelled in some of the other key areas of modern coaching, like man management and creating the right environment for players.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s different when you\u2019re (the caretaker coach) for three games, compared to 14. How much of a senior coach role is he going to undertake?,\u201d Simpson posed.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s working through 50 or 60 per cent of a full complete role and there\u2019s some of the things he doesn\u2019t have to touch on at the moment.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut if you\u2019re coaching for 14 weeks, a bit of that creeps in.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s become impossible to ignore Josh Fraser as a leading contender to be Carlton\u2019s next senior coach. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":762562,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-762561","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\/762561","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=762561"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/762561\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/762562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=762561"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=762561"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=762561"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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