Collingwood Head of Development Josh Fraser has been in the AFL system for over a quarter of a century and has seen it all at various levels of football.
Having stepped up as the Club’s Forwards Coach over the past month while Scott Selwood takes time away, the 43-year-old’s vast experience has come to the fore.
Speaking on the Dyl & Friends podcast, Fraser opened up on how has straddled dual roles recently, in a wide-ranging chat.
“Scooter’s away at the moment so I’ve jumped into the forward line role,” he said.
“You review the game from a forward perspective, there might be specific things at training that you’re doing with the forwards or with the team in ball movement.
“You’re previewing the next game and setting the week up and then obviously you’ve got the game day coaching.
“It’s a different workflow to what I’ve been used to in development, but I’ve picked it up pretty quickly and I’m fortunate too that the forwards at Collingwood are a great group.
“Scotty Selwood has done a great job with them so I haven’t come in trying to re-invent the wheel with them, I’ve really given them a lot of the ownership around what they want from me.”
Having first entered the league as 20th century drew to a close – the first pick in the 1999 National Draft – Fraser’s playing career and then swift transition into coaching has seen him immersed in the game’s evolution.
While understanding the need for data and analysis in the modern game, Fraser admitted he has long been of the view that trends can firstly be identified from the eye.
It’s why his emphasis on pressure and ball retention can so easily be backed up by numbers, as he allows his current crop of forwards to go to work.
“I understand that data in footy and the importance of it, but I’m a trust your eyes coach a bit, and then reinforce with data,” he said.
“Often your ability to retain the ball in your front half is massive, but each game’s different. I think against the Hawks we were able to take 18 marks inside fifty which is incredible and that was just our ability to honour the lea.
“When you see a trend early in a game of numbers that are strong you want to keep supporting that through messaging.”
Fraser is no stranger to coaching and particularly holding senior positions, having coached at state level for close to a decade before focussing full-time on development this year.
That included being at the helm of the Pies’ VFL side in 2023 and 2024, and is a major reason behind his passion for the Club’s young talent that are beginning to showcase their strengths on the AFL stage.
Having been instrumental in Ned Long’s recruitment and eventual promotion to the senior list, Fraser has also worked closely a number of young Pies who are yet to feature at AFL level consistently, but have bright futures.
“The thing I didn’t know about Longy was how good a person he was, he is a great person,” he said.
“He gets the opportunity to do some AFL pre-seasons sessions and pretty quickly endears himself to everyone for a variety of reasons.
“You bring Longy in and in our system he plays to his strengths and he’s so valued for that.
“I still am excited about Harvey Harrison, I think he’s going to be a terrific player.
“Charlie Dean is a guy who’s played a lot of VFL and playing high-level VFL footy at the moment, Reef McInnes is going through an injury and he’s starting to emerge as a player.
“We’ve got a couple of young rucks at the moment in Oscar Steene and Iliro Smit who are looking good.
“I’m quite excited about the youth of our Club.”
Fraser’s playing career also saw him cross paths with Scott Pendlebury and Steele Sidebottom as their careers took off, highlighting his connection across all areas of the playing list in 2025.
It’s this build up of knowledge and relationships that has allowed him to identify his own set of foundations for success, that he continues to feed to this generation of Pies.
“My belief is that the game is played from the inside out,” he said.
“I think contest gives you a chance to attack and defend. I think you can attack of really strong defence and you’ve got to be able to defend off turnover in the modern game.
“It’s prioritising a little bit of who you are as a coach, but again, maybe this is my development background, fundamentals are still the most important thing in the game
“I don’t think it matters what your game plan is unless you can develop a really strong fundamental set.”
Fraser will continue to sit in Selwood’s seat until the much-loved assistant returns full-time.
