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A heart-stopping draw after a second-half arm wrestle with the Western Bulldogs has secured Carlton a wildcard berth and continued their unlikely revival under interim coach Josh Fraser.
The Blues had one win from nine matches when Fraser took over in May after the club parted ways with Michael Voss. The 12.10 (82) deadlock at Marvel Stadium on Sunday means Carlton have 10 wins and a draw from 13 matches with the former Collingwood and Gold Coast ruckman in the coaches’ box.
“I’m really proud of the work that the [players] put in, and it’s been a collective,” Fraser said.
“It’s the 23 who represent the club today, but it’s the entire playing list and their willingness and want to grow and improve certain parts of our game and drive standards [is impressive] – it’s been an incredible 13 weeks at this point.
“There’s a lot more work in front of us, but I think the players deserve an enormous amount of credit for the resilience they’ve shown, and the appetite to want to keep getting better.”
The result not only locks Carlton into September action, but ends St Kilda’s and Greater Western Sydney’s finals hopes with one round left in the season.
A Francis Evans snap at goal levelled the scores with about three minutes left – albeit with some confusion after teammate Wade Derksen claimed a mark, and dribbled the ball through – and set the scene for a thrilling climax.
Neither team scored again, with Bulldogs star Ed Richards pinged for running too far in what proved effectively their final chance as he threatened to drive his side inside 50 with barely 90 seconds to go.
The Blues knew a draw would be enough to lock in their well-earned wildcard spot, and made their players aware of that in the dying stages as they went into preservation mode.
“It was a bit weird. You don’t really celebrate draws too much, but we’re in [wildcard round], so we’re rapt as a group, and as a club,” Derksen told this masthead.
Fraser was puzzled in the moment when Derksen marked the ball on the goal line, and even the man himself described his action as “random”.
“Sometimes I do some random things. The boys pull me up on it a bit, but it was just a bit of a random action that came out,” Derksen said. “Once I saw [the ball] go over, I marked it just to have a bit of fun.”
Ex-Swan Will Hayward lodged a mark-of-the-year contender with a skyscraping vertical effort where his knees ended up on Bulldog Ryley Sanders’ shoulders in the third term – followed by a goal that tied the scores – but injured his right ankle in doing so, and took no further part.
Fraser said it would be clearer on Monday what Hayward was dealing with, but that he was “sore” enough not to be able to return despite attempting some run-throughs along the boundary line.
Fraser only days earlier finally threw his hat in the ring to be Carlton’s next senior coach, including presenting to the selection panel, and every positive result heightens his chances of being Voss’ permanent replacement.
The 44-year-old has been at pains to avoid the club’s second-half surge being about him, but the Blues’ stunning transformation is intrinsically linked to him, particularly the ball-retention approach designed to tighten their defence. They racked up 146 marks and 310 uncontested possessions on Sunday.
“I think when you’re not getting results, you need to scratch the surface around why,” Fraser said.
“But the culture internally, I’ve felt, has been quite strong. Sometimes, when you’re not getting results, it’s hard to know a different way.
“They had an identity that was attached to contests and stoppage, which held us in good stead, and we just wanted to build that out … but we’ve still got to find the best version of ourselves that’s a consistent product on field, and we’re working towards that.”
Derksen said Fraser had “done the group wonders”, including encouraging the players to embrace “blue-collar actions” and a mindset to get better each day.
Patrick Cripps, Sam Walsh, Blake Acres and George Hewett all won at least 30 disposals for Carlton, while Hayward slotted three goals from 14 disposals before exiting the contest.
Richards was the Dogs’ standout with 31 touches and two goals, the second of them a brilliant effort on the run in the last term – after receiving a handball from Aaron Naughton – that briefly put Luke Beveridge’s men eight points up.
The Bulldogs played without Marcus Bontempelli, who sat out as he manages a “grumbly” Achilles issue, knowing they were already assured of a wildcard spot.
“If it’s still hanging around, and we feel like another week will help him prepare for the wildcard game, then we’ll probably rest him again,” Beveridge said.
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