JOSH Fraser believes he would be doing a "disservice" to Carlton if he publicly put his hand up to become the Blues' full-time coach during a seven-game winning streak.

After a perfect 7-0 start to his AFL coaching career, Carlton is suddenly in contention for a finals berth that seemed completely out of reach when Michael Voss exited the club two months ago.

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But Fraser is refusing to be distracted by the growing momentum for him to shed the interim role and become Carlton's next coach.

Collingwood premiership captain Nick Maxwell this week endorsed his former Magpies teammate to declare he wants the top job.

Fraser has continually stressed he is not ready for a senior coaching role, having been asked whenever he is fulfilling his media commitments.

When queried again if he would be ready by the end of the AFL season, Fraser insisted he hadn't thought that far ahead.

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"One of the things that I've tried to do, and wanted to do, and remained pretty steadfast on is taking that narrow focus," Fraser said on Wednesday.

"Because if I start to stray away from that, I think I'm doing a disservice to the club and the playing group.

"We're all very much committed to making sure that we stack good days on top of each other, and that's where my focus lies."

Carlton, led by chief executive Graham Wright, has been adamant it will go through a proper process of interviewing candidates to choose the full-time replacement for Voss.

Josh Fraser speaks to his players during the match between Carlton and West Coast at Marvel Stadium in round 16, 2026. Picture: AFL Photos

The Blues will almost certainly go down the path of an untried assistant, with Wright having successfully picked coaches in the past.

In 2021, Wright tried to lure Sam Mitchell to Collingwood, forcing Hawthorn to send off four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson.

But in the same process at the Magpies, Wright led the panel that ultimately chose Craig McRae to lead Collingwood.

After hanging on to defeat struggling Richmond on Saturday night, Carlton faces its biggest test under Fraser's leadership when it takes on Hawthorn.

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The third-placed Hawks will be desperate to rebound from a horror outing in Launceston when they trailed Melbourne by a staggering game-high 96 points, before eventually losing by 35.

"I can understand the narrative around this one, and Hawthorn being a team that's going to contend for potentially top four," Fraser said.

"This competition is close, and games are hard to win, but this week against an opposition that's highly regarded, it's going to be a good test for us."

Young defender Harry Dean is expected to return after missing the game against the Tigers due to an unexplained cut on his hand.

Dean trained during the Blues' session at Ikon Park on Wednesday.