\n Two Blues defined by perseverance have been rewarded with two-year contract extensions.\n <\/p>\n
CARLTON forward Francis Evans and defender Wade Derksen will continue at IKON Park, both re-committing for a further two years with the Club.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Evans\u00a0has built on his breakout end\u00a0of\u00a02025 with a consistent 2026 AFL\u00a0campaign.\u00a0Underlining his value as a genuine pressure forward for the Blues\u00a0as well as being a team-first player,\u00a0Evans is ranked equal-first at the Club for goal assist, third for tackles and fourth for pressure acts.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Showcasing a relentless work rate, Evans is also ranked in the top 20 in the competition for total tackles inside 50. \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
The 24-year-old\u00a0produced his\u00a0most prolific\u00a0game of the year against Hawthorn in\u00a0Round 18 where he racked up an\u00a0equal career-high 19 disposals and seven tackles, with the Brunswick\u00a0product\u00a0showcasing\u00a0his threat in front of goal when he kicked three goals against GWS\u00a0in Round 15.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Joining Carlton\u00a0as\u00a0part of the pre-season Supplemental Selection Period (SSP)\u00a0at the start of 2025\u00a0and earning himself a year extension for 2026, \u2018Frank the Tank\u2019\u00a0–\u00a0whose great grandfather\u2019s brother played seven games for the Club in\u00a01925\u00a0–\u00a0has solidified himself as a cult hero with the Blues fans.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derksen’s path to AFL football has been anything but straightforward. Drafted by GWS in the 2022 mid-season rookie draft, he played 57 VFL matches before being delisted at the end of 2025.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Returning home to the Northern Territory, Derksen was given an opportunity to train with Carlton, making the over 3,700km, four-day drive from Darwin to Melbourne to arrive at IKON Park earlier this year.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
After impressing at training, Derksen signed with the Blues via the Supplemental Selection Period ahead of the 2026 season.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
He made his long-awaited AFL debut in Round 4 against North Melbourne, playing 10 games so far this season where he is averaging over 13 disposals and just shy of six intercepts a game, highlighted by a season-high 18 disposals against GWS in Round 15.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
Showcasing\u00a0a club-first mentality, Derksen has taken on some key defensive roles in 2026 and ranks in the top six at Carlton for spoils and intercept marks across his 10 games for the Club.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
General\u00a0Manager\u00a0of Football Chris Davies said today’s\u00a0announcement\u00a0reflects\u00a0both players hard work and perseverance since arriving at the Blues.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Both players stories speaks for themselves. For Frankie, his consistency and hard work has solidified himself a spot in the side and with Wade, to see him not only get his chance to play AFL but make the most of his opportunity has been one of the highlights of our season,” Davies said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cFrankie is a team-first player, he works hard for the group and does the jobs that\u00a0don’t\u00a0always get noticed\u00a0or highlighted\u00a0publicly but are not lost on his teammates and coaches.\u00a0He is someone who has worked incredibly hard on his game to help the team to the best of his\u00a0ability.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
“Since arriving at Carlton, Wade has worked really hard, settling into our backline through the guidance of the likes of Jacob Weitering and Nick Haynes. Composed under pressure, his read of the ball and ability to win it in the air has been a real asset for us.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThese re-signings highlight the progress both players have made whilst also giving them the chance to keep building on that. We are excited to see what they can do over the next two years and beyond.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two Blues defined by perseverance have been rewarded with two-year contract extensions. CARLTON forward Francis Evans and defender…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":827990,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-827989","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\/827989","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=827989"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/827989\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/827990"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=827989"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=827989"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=827989"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}