{"id":832674,"date":"2026-07-30T04:14:19","date_gmt":"2026-07-30T04:14:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/832674\/"},"modified":"2026-07-30T04:14:19","modified_gmt":"2026-07-30T04:14:19","slug":"carlton-give-josh-fraser-one-week-to-decide-on-applying-for-senior-coaching-job","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/832674\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlton give Josh Fraser one week to decide on applying for senior coaching job"},"content":{"rendered":"

Updated July 30, 2026 \u2014 12:38pm,first published 11:41am<\/p>\n

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In today\u2019s AFL Briefing:Blues footy boss Chris Davies met with Josh Fraser this week and urged him \u201cto put his hand up\u201d for the senior coaching role.A new football boss at Essendon will be appointed after the departure of Dan McPherson, as the Bombers review their football structure.Blues give Fraser a deadline to apply<\/p>\n

Danny Russell<\/p>\n

Carlton have given caretaker coach Josh Fraser a week to decide whether he wants to apply for the club\u2019s senior gig<\/a> after telling the former Collingwood ruckman they want him to join the interview process.<\/p>\n

Blues footy boss Chris Davies met with Fraser this week and urged him \u201cto put his hand up\u201d for the role after leading the club to an impressive 8-2 record<\/a> and a return to finals relevance during his 10 games in charge.<\/p>\n

Fraser said on Thursday morning, ahead of Saturday night\u2019s crucial clash against the Brisbane Lions at Marvel Stadium, that he remained undecided.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s been a conversation and an opportunity to go through the process, which I\u2019m grateful for,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

\"InterimInterim coach Josh Fraser with Carlton\u2019s football general manager Chris Davies.AFL Photos<\/p>\n

\u201cI think Chris was on radio this morning articulating that, and I\u2019ll take some time now to consider whether I\u2019m part of that or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not so much umming and ahhing, I think it\u2019s just considering everything that comes with being a senior coach and being prepared to go through that process.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Josh<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve got a high awareness of it, and this opportunity has given me a great chance to live it to a degree, but I want to make sure that when I go through a process, if I was to be successful, that I\u2019m ready to hit the ground running.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser has been reluctant to commit his name to the process since replacing Michael Voss<\/a> ahead of round 10 with the Blues languishing towards the bottom of the ladder with a dismal 1-8 record.<\/p>\n

But he experienced immediate success in his first game in charge, beating the Western Bulldogs, and then leading the Blues on a 7-0 winning streak and reinvigorating disillusioned Carlton fans in this new-look wildcard season. They sit 11th, behind 10th-placed St Kilda on percentage with four rounds remaining<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cLook, I\u2019m ambitious, and I have been to be a senior coach,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo doubt the excitement\u2019s probably been fast tracked to a degree by this interim opportunity, but again, right through my coaching journey, I\u2019ve been very considered with what I\u2019ve done and how I\u2019ve done it, and I\u2019ve always wanted to consolidate each role I\u2019m in through development, through coaching my own side, and I feel like it\u2019s given me a chance now to be so considered without being too knee-jerk about the excitement of an opportunity.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think this football club\u2019s quite unique. It\u2019s a big football club. It\u2019s got great passion and supporter base. I think whoever the successful candidate, who coaches this football club, is going to enjoy doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PatrickPatrick Cripps will play his 250th game against Brisbane on Saturday.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Fraser indicated he would stay at Carlton as an assistant coach if he applied for the job and missed out.<\/p>\n

The Age reported last week the Blues have narrowed the search down to Fraser, St Kilda senior assistant Corey Enright, Geelong assistant James Kelly and Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoes it make it difficult [to apply and miss out]? Not from my perspective,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a club-first person. It\u2019s been my approach when I took on this interim role, making sure the club was better placed at the end of the season. So, I don\u2019t see it that way. Maybe others do, but ultimately, I\u2019ll do what\u2019s best for the club.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Davies said the club had a good understanding of Fraser\u2019s abilities as a coach after a 10-week trial period.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had the fortunate aspect over my time in footy, I worked for a long time with Kenny Hinkley<\/a>. I was able to see Matthew Nicks as an assistant coach, I worked with Michael Voss as an assistant coach and then as a senior coach. I was part of the group that put Josh Carr into the senior coaching role at Port Adelaide,\u201d he told SEN.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom my experience I think Josh Fraser is going to be an outstanding senior coach one day. Whether that\u2019s with Carlton or another club into the future remains to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser said big forward Harry McKay trained on Thursday morning and would be considered for the Lions clash after missing a week with a knee injury<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\u201cHe had a really good session over the weekend,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s tracking in the right direction, but we want to see him get through today, and not just get through, but perform really well training.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser also praised captain Patrick Cripps ahead of his 250th game this weekend.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Geelong<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s he\u2019s resembled so much hope for this football club for a long period of time, and you guys get to see him on the field, and I assume in front of a microphone from time to time, but we get to see him day to day, and he\u2019s got a presence about him,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a much-loved figure. He\u2019s probably had to carry a fair load, but he\u2019s done it with such class and dignity.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s a credit to his family, and the football club\u2019s very lucky to have someone like him inside our building.\u201d<\/p>\n

Essendon\u2019s footy boss to leave at season\u2019s end<\/p>\n

Jake Niall<\/p>\n

Essendon\u2019s general manager of football operations Dan McPherson has quit and will leave the club at season\u2019s end.<\/p>\n

McPherson, who came to the Bombers with former coach Brad Scott, resigned on Tuesday, with the club announcing his departure on Thursday afternoon.<\/p>\n

The appointment of a new football boss will be made alongside that of a new senior coach, as the Bombers review their football structure.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis feels like the right time for me to conclude my tenure at the Bombers,\u201d McPherson said in a club statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cI leave with confidence that the foundations have now been laid for a positive future. I\u2019m proud of the role I\u2019ve played in reshaping our football strategy, as well as our high-performance area, and I believe this club is poised to succeed in a meaningful way over its next phase.<\/p>\n

\"Essendon\u2019sEssendon\u2019s football boss Daniel McPherson will leave the club at the end of the season.Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rebuild of our list around a young, talented core is exciting, and I have no doubt they\u2019ll achieve special things for the red and black in the years ahead.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former CEO Craig Vozzo, now a consultant, has been asked to work on a proposed new structure for the footy program.<\/p>\n

Essendon have narrowed the search for their next senior coach to four candidates<\/a>: club legend James Hird, Fremantle assistant Jaymie Graham, Sydney assistant and former Bomber Mark McVeigh and Adelaide director of coaching Murray Davis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Two<\/a><\/p>\n

McPherson was not appointed to the five-person coaching panel to find the new coach, which consists of president Andrew Welsh, chief executive Tim Roberts, football director Ted Richards, vice president and ex-Victory chairman Anthony Di Pietro and Essendon\u2019s general manager of people and culture, Caroline Monzon.<\/p>\n

Victory great and former coach Kevin Muscat, and long-time opposition analyst at Collingwood and Hawthorn John Wardrop have since to invited to be part of the process alongside the panel.<\/p>\n

Roberts paid tribute to McPherson\u2019s leadership in what has been a tumultuous season, following the sacking of Scott, with former board member Dean Solomon taking the interim coaching role.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would particularly like to thank Dan for his leadership during the recent coaching transition. His calm and measured approach, coupled with his genuine care for people, provided much needed reassurance and stability within the football department and the playing group during a time of considerable uncertainty,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cDan is highly regarded internally and externally for his professionalism, diligence, strong values and character and we wish him well for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n

Keep up to date with the best AFL coverage in the country. Sign up for the Real Footy newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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\"JakeJake Niall<\/a> is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated July 30, 2026 \u2014 12:38pm,first published 11:41am Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":832675,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-832674","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\/832674","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=832674"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/832674\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/832675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=832674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=832674"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=832674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}