As Carlton Football Club stands on the cusp of securing a spot in the AFL finals, one of its star leaders has declined to weigh in on the permanent future of the man who turned the team’s season around. Sam Walsh, the Blues’ vice-captain, took a diplomatic, non-committal stance when questioned about caretaker head coach Josh Fraser’s potential bid for the full-time role in a press briefing this week.
Fraser stepped into the top job earlier this season after the club parted ways with former senior coach Michael Voss, and the interim appointment has delivered far beyond initial expectations. In his first 11 matches at the helm, Fraser has led the Blues to nine wins, transforming the side from mid-table also-rans into legitimate finals contenders. This Sunday night, Carlton will get a golden chance to lock in their place in the post-season when they face off against 11th-ranked St Kilda at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium.
While Walsh stopped short of publicly backing Fraser to take the role permanently, he did not hide his respect for the caretaker’s work. “Frase is made of the right stuff,” Walsh told reporters. “I put all my support behind anyone who is going to have a crack at being the head coach of Carlton. I will back in his decision making and the club’s too. When you get in the nitty and gritty of it, we’re not seeing what coaches present behind the scenes, the deeper lens of the recruitment and planning process. We all know how quickly the coaching change happened, so he’s sort of just come in and empowered a lot of the assistant coaches, so it’s a group effort on that point of view. I don’t think I can really speak on it too much more. It’s up to the individual really to see whether he thinks he wants to do the job.”
Beyond the coaching search and upcoming finals fight, Walsh also shared his enthusiasm for this weekend’s unique match scheduling, which pairs Carlton’s AFL round 21 clash with the AFLW season opener between the same two clubs. Walsh said the combined double-header brings a welcome jolt of energy to the club late in the men’s season, and he expressed hope for even more expansive combined events down the line.
“We’re pumped, we’ve admired how the girls have gone about it in particularly the last 12 to 18 months,” Walsh said. “It’s nice this time of the year to have a sense of energy for a new season starting. It probably makes you feel alive at the footy club still even when we’re in round 21. I think it’s unreal for the double-header. I think even in the future for a triple-header and try and get the VFL involved to make it a big day. I am really excited for what the girls are going to bring this season.”