As the Carlton Blues prepare for one of the most challenging matches of their Australian Football League season, the club is holding out hope that star key defender Jacob Weitering will make a timely return from injury ahead of Friday night’s high-stakes clash against Geelong at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.
Weitering has been sidelined for weeks with a calf injury, but interim head coach Josh Fraser confirmed on Wednesday that the veteran backline leader is on track to prove his fitness for the blockbuster matchup. The 2024 Blues’ season has seen a sudden shift in momentum over the past fortnight: two consecutive wins have followed the abrupt departure of former senior coach Michael Voss, and the team is now gearing up to test its improved form against a powerhouse Geelong side armed with one of the league’s most dangerous forward groups.
Fraser shared that Weitering completed a full training session while the team was in Adelaide over the weekend, and the club will make a final call on his availability following a Thursday main training session. “He’s important to us – not only through his on-field performances but also his leadership,” Fraser told reporters, noting that Weitering’s presence would be critical to shutting down Geelong’s premiership-caliber attacking line, headlined by star forward Jeremy Cameron.
Alongside the anticipated return of Weitering, Fraser has highlighted the impressive early contributions of first-year defender Harry Dean, while arguing that the young talent has not received enough external recognition for his impact this season. Dean has featured in nine senior matches in his debut campaign, already taking on defensive assignments that most first-year players rarely handle. The 19-year-old has stepped up in high-pressure matchups week after week, and Fraser said his mature approach to the game has been a revelation for the club.
“I’m not sure Harry is getting enough credit externally, I think he’s been outstanding,” Fraser said. “He had a big job last week, he’s had a big job most weeks, and he’s doing a terrific amount of work for us. He plays with a maturity above his age, he brings a competitive edge to what we’re doing on-field. I’ve loved the start to his career, I think Carlton supporters should be pretty excited about the way his career is going to unfold.”
When asked about the team’s recent two-game winning streak – a better result than the club notched in its first nine rounds under Voss – Fraser pushed back on the narrative that a complete systemic overhaul has driven the turnaround. Instead, he framed the improvement as a gradual evolution of the club’s existing game plan and off-field structures, rather than a full reset.
“I like to think we’ve evolved more than we’ve changed,” he explained. “When you evolve, there are natural changes with what you do, but there’s been a strong foundation built. We’ve been able to consider what that looks like moving forward: some of the changes have been on game day, some of it has happened Monday to Friday with where we’re putting our energy and where we’re educating. It’s evolving. We’ve got a lot more steps in front of us, but there have been encouraging signs so far.”
Friday’s clash at the MCG will be the clearest test yet of whether Carlton’s recent improvement is sustainable, with a win over the top-tier Cats cementing the club’s rising status in the 2024 AFL competition.