{"id":879830,"date":"2026-09-04T15:04:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/879830\/"},"modified":"2026-09-04T15:04:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T15:04:18","slug":"afl-2026-josh-fraser-press-conference-after-carlton-blues-loss-to-geelong-cats-in-elimination-final-video-latest-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/879830\/","title":{"rendered":"AFL 2026: Josh Fraser press conference after Carlton Blues loss to Geelong Cats in elimination final, video, latest news"},"content":{"rendered":"

The \u201cstark reality\u201d of Friday night\u2019s elimination final failure<\/a> wasn\u2019t lost on Carlton coach Josh Fraser, who said post-game he won\u2019t stand for \u201cmediocrity\u201d. <\/p>\n

The Blues led Geelong by as many as 21 points in the first half, before a September-hardened Cats unit snatched the game from Carlton\u2019s grasp in the third quarter. <\/p>\n

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Fraser\u2019s charges simply weren\u2019t allowed to play the free-flowing, uncontested-marking style of game they\u2019ve thrived on in the second half of the season. <\/p>\n

Instead, the Cats repeatedly swarmed at the contest, committing extra numbers to the ball between the arcs to feed their formidable front-half game. <\/p>\n

In wet conditions, they kicked 10.13 in the second half to punt Carlton from the finals, putting a blunt end to Fraser\u2019s fairytale run since assuming the helm in May. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought we started the game reasonably well, but once their contest and stoppage game ramped up and got to the outside of us, it made it really difficult,\u201d Fraser told reporters post-match. <\/p>\n

\u201cAs frustrating as the result ended up being, tonight gives us some good feedback about where we need to get to. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we were outplayed \u2026 they were far too good. Inside to outside, they looked more predictable than us, and they really challenged our system. <\/p>\n

\u201cToo often tonight, we didn\u2019t stay as connected as what we\u2019ve been.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlton head coach Josh Fraser speaks to journalists after his side’s 33-point loss to Geelong in the 2026 First Elimination Final.Source: Fox Sports<\/p>\n

Fraser said there were \u201cmixed emotions\u201d on the night, given what his group has achieved since he took over \u2014 a 12-1-3 record after Round 10, including a wildcard final triumph. <\/p>\n

But the now-ingrained senior coach says there\u2019s no mystery around where his Blues sit in comparison to true contenders in the competition. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat (achievement) is something we\u2019re celebrating for our group, and then there\u2019s a stark reality that there\u2019s more work in front of us, which is a message that I\u2019ve given every week,\u201d said Fraser. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe know exactly where we\u2019re at. Tonight was disappointing, and we certainly don\u2019t want to be a club that lives in mediocrity. <\/p>\n

\u201cAgain, acknowledgement of the work that\u2019s been put in; the players deserve a lot of credit \u2026 but we don\u2019t want to be a club that\u2019s satisfied with finishing eighth.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fraser was probed further on that ideology, asked if there had to be some level of satisfaction given where Carlton ascended from this year \u2014 at one stage 1-8 under Michael Voss. <\/p>\n

\u201cI have a handle on the character of the group, and the spirit,\u201d Fraser said. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we\u2019ve made some big improvements, there\u2019s no doubt about that, but there are still parts of our game that we need to get to work on. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd there are some individuals who need to continue to grow \u2014 in fact, all our players need to continue to grow. <\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like I\u2019ve got a really good handle on where we\u2019re at, and understand that a lot of work is in front of us. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to continue to develop and work our list; we need to build depth; we need to improve players; we need to build out our system \u2026 I think there\u2019s clear alignment internally of what we need to be able to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/p>\n

DANGER, DANGER! Superstar winds back clock in epic 54-pt turnaround as Blues fairytale ends<\/a><\/p>\n

BLUES PLAYER RATINGS: Rising Star\u2019s reality check; six fails as Blues \u2018hit the wall\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

CATS PLAYER RATINGS: \u2018Beast\u2019 silences critics with stunner; forgotten Cat\u2019s rapid rise<\/a><\/p>\n

Fraser is also looking forward to playing a role in Carlton\u2019s recruitment effort this offseason, revealing he\u2019s already held some talks regarding the list\u2019s outlook. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d imagine I\u2019ll be a part of that (recruiting) process, in terms of my views on where our list sits and where we need to grow it,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve dipped my toe into some of those discussions, but I haven\u2019t fully immersed myself in them, because we\u2019ve had games to focus on. <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019ll be the next step for me, but again, I\u2019ve referenced Chris Davies and Graham Wright previously with the support and experience they have in that space. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m as eager as anyone to make sure this club moves forward, and we build this out so we\u2019ve got something sustainable.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlton has been linked with offseason moves for the likes of key forward Joel Amartey and versatile defender Buku Khamis, with Fraser quizzed about the specifics around where he wants his personnel improved in October. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think, without giving a bland answer, it\u2019s quite broad,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI think we can build our midfield depth; I think we could build out our key-position stocks \u2014 and there are players on our list we want to continue to develop as well. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not sure if it\u2019s one specific thing that we\u2019re chasing, as opposed to considering what we\u2019ve got, what growth and upside we have in those (current) players, and then looking to add where we can. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll be a holistic approach to who makes us better.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The \u201cstark reality\u201d of Friday night\u2019s elimination final failure wasn\u2019t lost on Carlton coach Josh Fraser, who said…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":879831,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":["post-879830","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\/879830","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=879830"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/879830\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/879831"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=879830"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=879830"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=879830"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}