Try before you buy: Why Fraser’s no-strings audition suits him and the Blues

At 44, Josh Fraser is the same age as the great Ron Barassi in his final season coaching North Melbourne, by which stage Barassi had been a senior coach at Carlton and North for 15 seasons, winning four premierships from eight grand finals.

At Fraser’s vintage, Mick Malthouse had coached two clubs for 14 seasons. Chris Scott, who did a short, sharp apprenticeship at Fremantle, was in his 10th season at Geelong when he reached Fraser’s 44 years.

Fraser isn’t a young coach, per se. This Carlton team he’s handling is the fourth side that he’s coached, including separate stints coaching Carlton’s VFL affiliates, the Northern Blues/Bullants and the Blues twos, plus Collingwood’s VFL side (2023-24).

Fraser’s decision to eschew pursuit of the Carlton senior coaching job he occupies as caretaker has been astute, if not inspired.

It has worked for Carlton, allowing chief executive Graham Wright and football boss Chris Davies to begin the search for their next coach without the complication of an internal candidate who is desperate for the job.

The Carlton coaching position is genuinely open. Had Fraser signalled he was keen, as James Hird did on the day it emerged that Brad Scott had been removed, it had the potential to deter other quality candidates.

Fraser still has the option of changing his stance and jumping into the field if he wishes. Far from losing lustre by holding back, he’s gained currency in the AFL coaching marketplace.

Comparing Carlton’s coach-search to a tournament, Fraser would go straight into the semi-finals if he changed tack. It’s conceivable that the club will persuade him to enter the process late.

But assuming he sticks to his career game plan and stays at Carlton as a line coach (forwards), Fraser surely will be a desired candidate for the next club or clubs seeking a head coach.

Moreover, it’s no longer accurate to describe him as an “untried” coach.

His 14-game appointment is considerably longer than the standard for nightwatchmen who coach out the remains of the season.

We could discern the gist of Steven King’s style – attacking, forthright, willing to make hard calls early (see Steven May) – relatively early in his first year as Melbourne helmsman.

Fraser’s traits? His communication seems clear and composed. Not once in his eight games as coach has he shown irritation or the litany of frustrations that many senior coaches find hard to contain.

That said, he’s 7-1 at a club that was 1-8 when he was handed the wheel. Not much cause for agitation.

Fraser, the No.1 draft pick in 1999 and a 200-gamer at Collingwood (plus 18 games at Gold Coast after missing the 2010 flag), exhibited leadership capabilities in his playing career. But his measured, reasonable nature did not suggest he was coaching-bound, as his friend and ex-Collingwood football boss Neil Balme recalled.

“Josh was definitely a player who had a very good feel for what made the game work and was a natural leader,” said Balme of the ruckman.

“He was a bit too reasonable for one to think he would be a senior coach at that time.

“Fortunately, the game and players now prefer his personality style for coaching. So a bit unexpected but certainly a pleasant surprise for me.”

A Collingwood insider from Fraser’s time steering the VFL team described him as a relaxed coach who wanted the players to enjoy the game and was excellent at assessing strengths and deficiencies in players.

Initially, not confident in addressing the team, he quickly overcame that reluctance, said the Collingwood insider, who saw Fraser at close quarters.

“(He) spoke very well in the end to be able to enunciate what was required to lift teams, and everyone loved him and played for him. [He] always sought the thoughts of his assistant coaches to ensure he hadn’t missed anything, was very thorough in studying opposition teams.”

The influential British/Canadian writer Malcolm Gladwell once identified teaching and NFL quarterbacks as jobs in which it was difficult to predict success. In Gladwell’s telling, the best way to evaluate a teacher wasn’t academic results or resumes, but by witnessing what a teacher did in the classroom.

On that “try before you buy” measure, Fraser would be an excellent senior coach.

But interim coaches differ from teachers in that they invariably get the role from someone who wasn’t successful immediately beforehand. So, the honeymoon of the trial period can deceive.

The interim coach can succeed at first, then falter when given the role in full, as David Teague found at Carlton. Or they can continue to win, as Paul Roos did. Most are quickly shunted back to the back bench.

The Blues – and Fraser – have been right to exercise caution about his prospects as a senior coach.

The coach’s “Honeymoon Frase” – the ABC’s Corbin Middlemas’ memorable description of Fraser’s winning streak – might have ended against the Hawks, whose class and method (in the wet) highlighted the gap between Carlton and flag contention.

Should the Blues topple Fraser’s former team, though, there will be more talk of whether he’ll be drafted to coach Carlton.

Irrespective of whether Carlton and Fraser stick with their plan and confine him to caretaking duties, the first player picked in the draft 27 years ago will be among the first on rival clubs’ white boards in the upcoming coaching drafts.

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