{"id":873484,"date":"2026-08-30T05:26:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-30T05:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/873484\/"},"modified":"2026-08-30T05:26:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-30T05:26:22","slug":"afl-2026-carlton-blues-star-adam-cerra-makes-rallying-cry-to-fans-before-elimination-final-against-geelong-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/873484\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Carlton Blues star Adam Cerra makes rallying cry to fans before elimination final against Geelong Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Jon<\/p>\n

Updated August 30, 2026 \u2014 1:27pm,first published 1:25pm<\/p>\n

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Carlton star Adam Cerra says the Blues are feeding off the energy of their revitalised fans, and has revealed a key plank of coach Josh Fraser\u2019s mantra as they push to continue their September dream and \u201cbreak\u201d Geelong next weekend.<\/p>\n

The Blues\u2019 remarkable uprising continued on Saturday night when they ran over Melbourne by 19 points in a high-pressure wildcard clash in front of 91,733 fans at the MCG, booking an elimination final against Geelong at the MCG on Friday.<\/p>\n

\"HearHear the roar: Star Blue Adam Cerra wants the Blues\u2019 army to come out in force against the Cats on Friday night.Getty Images<\/p>\n

The deafening roar of the Blues\u2019 fans enthralled by a stunning resurgence under Fraser out-powered their Demons\u2019 rivals, and the Blues want this to continue against the rested Cats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe play off their [fans\u2019] energy, and we try and energise them through our footy,\u201d Cerra told this masthead.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe know it\u2019s a strength of this football club; the Carlton community, how big and strong that is, and we try and use it to our advantage. They come out in numbers. Our part is to play an exciting brand of football to energise them, give them a good game of footy to watch. We love doing that.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

The Blues have been doing that since Michael Voss was sacked after a 1-8 start to the season, with 12 wins and a draw from their next 15 games, with a simplified, high-possession game plan that rivals have yet to consistently counter.<\/p>\n

They have also altered their mindset when it comes to crunch time in games. Where they all but froze earlier in the year, they now embrace tight contests, adopting a \u201cjust play the minutes\u201d ethos.<\/p>\n

Cerra, who had 26 disposals across half-back and in the midfield against the Demons, said the Blues wanted to \u201cbreak\u201d opponents.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt might take 118 minutes to break a team, but we have full trust. It might not come in the first quarter, but we stick to the process and try and break them by the end,\u201d Cerra said.<\/p>\n

Cerra delivered insight into the hoodie-wearing Fraser\u2019s mindset of how the Blues handle adversity, including against the Demons when they conceded the opening four goals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe main messaging since \u2018Frase\u2019 has come in is \u2013 \u2018just play your minutes\u2019. No matter what is going on in the game, we are just going to chase, just play the minutes,\u201d Cerra said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why I think we are playing that game well now. We are not getting caught up in the scoreboard. We know momentum will come and go.<\/p>\n

\u201cStay present, don\u2019t worry about the external things, the scoreboard, whether we are kicking goals or hitting the post, like [against the Demons in the final term] \u2013 we are on to the next thing.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s really led by our leaders, first and foremost, who are driving a calm presence across the field to trust that process and trust the work we do through the week.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Fraser has regularly told players and the public the Blues have set high standards at training. A focused, consistent training plan has helped deliver success.<\/p>\n

\u201cThroughout the week, our standards at training, habits, we try and make every session the best session of the year,\u201d Cerra said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat gives us real confidence to go out and play our brand for four quarters. We trust the work we do through the week. It\u2019s really fulfilling when you come and see it come to fruition.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cerra also praised the maturation of a side focused on defence and role-play. He said star youngsters Jagga Smith and Harry Dean embodied this.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Blues have been purring since Josh Fraser took charge.Chris Hopkins<\/p>\n

\u201cI think all the young boys, Harry Dean, Talor Byrne, they are just doing the right things. They value the hardest part of the game, defending, putting on pressure. They get the rewards on the back of that,\u201d Cerra said.<\/p>\n

\u201cJagga got the rewards on the back of that, another night it might be Talor kicking a few goals. The bottom line is they put on pressure and stay disciplined in their role, and they respect the hardest part of the game. So, it\u2019s pretty rare to have 18-year-olds come in and have that awareness already.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser\u2019s focus on this has also been reinforced at selection.<\/p>\n

\u201cHistorically, there\u2019s been certain players who have felt like they\u2019ve had to do everything, and the intent\u2019s fine, but it\u2019s misguided, and actual fact, you\u2019ve just got to be so reliable in your role and trust the guy next to you to get his job done,\u201d Fraser said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we had a really even spread of contributors, and I think that\u2019s been our story for large parts of the last 14, 15 weeks. We\u2019re not reliant on one or two. Absolutely, guys will stand up and have very good games, but the load\u2019s shared and spread. So is the ownership.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Blues expect Will Hayward (ankle) to be available for a recall \u2013 he booted a team-high three goals in a four-point win over the Cats in round 12. Regardless, Cerra said many of his teammates were relishing what\u2019s at hand.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a lot of the boys say it\u2019s some of the most enjoyable football we have played,\u201d Cerra said.<\/p>\n

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

\u201cTake away the results, we come into work with a smile, and an eagerness to just keep getting better. That\u2019s the most enjoyable part. Sometimes, we can\u2019t control the scoreboard, but we can control how we show up every day and every quarter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are really relishing and enjoying that. The result at the end is the byproduct and reward. We are getting real joy in the process.\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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\"JonJon Pierik<\/a> is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Updated August 30, 2026 \u2014 1:27pm,first published 1:25pm Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":873485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-873484","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\/873484","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=873484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/873484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/873485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=873484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=873484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=873484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}