Northern Blues senior coach Josh Fraser said his side wouldn’t get carried anyway from a “special” win on Friday night at Geelong.

The Blues rallied to win by 14 points in a thrilling encounter under lights at Simonds Stadium, in what was the club’s first win under the new coach.

While admitting the players should enjoy the win, Fraser believed it was imperative the young Blues continue to learn what it takes to win games of football.

Speaking after the win over the Cats, Fraser said learning to win was a big step in the reset and development of Carlton and the Northern Blues. 

“It’s really special, there’s no doubt about that. It’s a special occasion for me, I feel really privileged to be a part of it,” Fraser said.

“It’s only been one, the next challenge is learning to win and handle winning. 

“We need to make sure while we enjoy it, we don’t get too carried away and understand what we need to do to replicate it and get a result.” 

Fraser said the win, which was Northern’s first senior triumph in 292 days, represented an important learning curve for the year ahead. 

With the Blues coming off a five-day break and a disappointing Round 1 loss against Footscray, the way Northern rallied was the most pleasing sign for the senior coach.

“It was a little close for comfort but a really gutsy win by the boys: to come down and play an outfit like Geelong in their first match, I couldn’t have asked for much more from the group,” Fraser said. 

“I’m really happy for the players, staff and club: we’ve had great support over the summer, I’ve had great support as a coach and it’s really good to see everyone enjoy the win. 

“There were some individual highlights of course, but the team effort was the most pleasing thing.” 

One of the individuals who Fraser did single out was Liam Jones, who continued his impressive VFL form with a dominant display up forward.

Jones took nine marks and kicked five goals against the Cats, taking his tally to eight goals from the opening two games to lead the VFL goalkicking at this early stage.


Liam Jones takes a strong grab against Geelong. (Photo: Tim Murdoch)

Fraser said the 25-year-old had impressed him “enormously” in his short time at the Blues. 

“I’m a big fan of ‘Jonesy’. When I came to the club I heard lots of external noise on areas of his game that he needs to work on but he’s really impressed me,” Fraser said. 

“I think he competes forward of centre as well as I’ve seen - some of his defensive acts were super, he kicked five goals but often he was two against one and he’s been really impressive with his leadership.” 

The Northern Blues’ next game comes on Saturday at 2pm, when they host Port Melbourne at Preston City Oval in the first home game of the season.

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