Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
For all of Josh Fraser’s feats at Carlton, helping the Blues avoid crumbling when the pressure is on may be the best of them.
If they are able to handle the Marcus Bontempelli-less Western Bulldogs on Sunday, Carlton will have booked their spot in the wildcard round of finals.
It has been one of the most dramatic in-season turnarounds in AFL history, up there with 2023, when the Blues unexpectedly made a preliminary final.
But Carlton, under former coach Michael Voss, also had dramatic late-season collapses in 2022 and 2024 when they appeared to be cruising towards September.
The Blues easily handled the moment last Sunday night in an effective elimination final by steamrolling St Kilda, who did lose superstar Nasiah Wanganeen-Milera early in the match.
“I hear a little bit of noise around managing expectation … that’s pre-dating my presence at the club,” Fraser said ahead of the clash with the Bulldogs.
“I can’t control what’s happened in the past but what we can control is what we do moving forward.
“Our playing group and our staff are very locked in and making sure that we’re as well prepared for the Bulldogs as we can be, so we don’t need to talk outcomes.”
Although Carlton have gone 10-2 since Fraser took over as interim coach in May, the return match against the Bulldogs loomed as a 50-50 contest.
That was until the Bulldogs managed their club icon Bontempelli.
The Dogs are also without ruckman Tim English, who likely won’t play again this season due to a knee injury.
“We still understand we have to be performing at our best,” Fraser said of Bontempelli.
“Clearly, he’s a really really important player to them, one of the champions of the game.
“But I’ve been involved in teams before where you face similar challenges with opposition players out and others around lift.
“We’ve still got to have a high awareness of what they will bring.
“‘Bevo’s (Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge) been at it a long time, so I’m sure they’ll throw some things at us and we have to be prepared for it.”
Half-back Adam Cerra can feel “some similarities” to that exhilarating 2023 run.
“Every week for us is almost like a final at the moment,” Cerra told AAP.
“We’ve just got to keep it simple, play our way and make sure that if they’re going to win, they’ve got to try and beat us. We can’t beat ourselves.
“We want to embrace the challenge. We’re not going to shy away from anything.
“It’s a privilege – we’re obviously a big club, we play some big games with some big crowds. We’ve got to focus on embracing that.”
