How the Blues are harnessing the energy of their boisterous fans to ‘break’ rivals

Carlton star Adam Cerra says the Blues are feeding off the energy of their revitalised fans, and has revealed a key plank of coach Josh Fraser’s mantra as they push to continue their September dream and “break” Geelong next weekend.

The Blues’ remarkable uprising continued on Saturday night when they ran over Melbourne by 19 points in a high-pressure wildcard clash in front of 91,733 fans at the MCG, booking an elimination final against Geelong at the MCG on Friday.

The deafening roar of the Blues’ fans enthralled by a stunning resurgence under Fraser out-powered their Demons’ rivals, and the Blues want this to continue against the rested Cats.

“We play off their [fans’] energy, and we try and energise them through our footy,” Cerra told this masthead.

“We know it’s a strength of this football club; the Carlton community, how big and strong that is, and we try and use it to our advantage. They come out in numbers. Our part is to play an exciting brand of football to energise them, give them a good game of footy to watch. We love doing that.”

The Blues have been doing that since Michael Voss was sacked after a 1-8 start to the season, with 12 wins and a draw from their next 15 games, with a simplified, high-possession game plan that rivals have yet to consistently counter.

They have also altered their mindset when it comes to crunch time in games. Where they all but froze earlier in the year, they now embrace tight contests, adopting a “just play the minutes” ethos.

Cerra, who had 26 disposals across half-back and in the midfield against the Demons, said the Blues wanted to “break” opponents.

“It might take 118 minutes to break a team, but we have full trust. It might not come in the first quarter, but we stick to the process and try and break them by the end,” Cerra said.

Cerra delivered insight into the hoodie-wearing Fraser’s mindset of how the Blues handle adversity, including against the Demons when they conceded the opening four goals.

“The main messaging since ‘Frase’ has come in is – ‘just play your minutes’. No matter what is going on in the game, we are just going to chase, just play the minutes,” Cerra said.

“That’s why I think we are playing that game well now. We are not getting caught up in the scoreboard. We know momentum will come and go.

“Stay present, don’t worry about the external things, the scoreboard, whether we are kicking goals or hitting the post, like [against the Demons in the final term] – we are on to the next thing.

“It’s really led by our leaders, first and foremost, who are driving a calm presence across the field to trust that process and trust the work we do through the week.”