Carlton have secured their place in the AFL finals after playing out a heart-stopping 12.10 (82) draw with the Western Bulldogs at Marvel Stadium on Sunday — a result that completed one of the competition's most remarkable second-half-of-season turnarounds under interim coach Josh Fraser.

The Blues had managed just one win from nine matches when Fraser took charge in May following the club's decision to part ways with senior coach Michael Voss. Since then, Carlton have gone 10 wins and a draw from 13 games, with Sunday's deadlock enough to lock in a wildcard berth heading into the final round of the regular season.

How the draw unfolded

The match turned on a remarkable sequence in the final three minutes. Francis Evans snapped a goal to level the scores with roughly three minutes remaining — though not without confusion, after teammate Wade Derksen appeared to claim a mark on the goal line before the ball dribbled through.

Derksen later described the moment with characteristic honesty. "Sometimes I do some random things. The boys pull me up on it a bit, but it was just a bit of a random action that came out," he said. "Once I saw [the ball] go over, I marked it just to have a bit of fun."

Neither side could find the winning score after that. Bulldogs star Ed Richards was pinged for running too far with barely 90 seconds remaining, snuffing out what proved effectively Western Bulldogs' last genuine chance to drive inside 50 and win the match.

Carlton, aware that a draw was enough to seal finals qualification, shifted into preservation mode in those closing stages. "It was a bit weird. You don't really celebrate draws too much, but we're in [the wildcard round], so we're rapt as a group, and as a club," Derksen said.

Hayward injury clouds the celebration

One significant concern to emerge from the victory was a right ankle injury to Will Hayward, the former Swan who produced a mark-of-the-year contender in the third term — soaring to take a spectacular vertical grab with his knees landing on Bulldog Ryley Sanders' shoulders — before converting the mark for a goal that briefly levelled the scores. Hayward took no further part in the match after the injury, and Fraser said it would be clearer on Monday how serious the issue was, noting the forward was "sore" enough that he could not return despite attempting run-throughs along the boundary.

Fraser's transformation of the Blues

While Fraser has consistently deflected attention away from himself and towards his players, the connection between his appointment and Carlton's turnaround is undeniable. The 44-year-old, a former Collingwood and Gold Coast ruckman, has overhauled the club's on-field identity — introducing a ball-retention approach focused on tightening the defence. On Sunday, Carlton racked up an imposing 146 marks and 310 uncontested possessions.

"I think when you're not getting results, you need to scratch the surface around why," Fraser said. "They had an identity that was attached to contests and stoppage, which held us in good stead, and we just wanted to build that out … but we've still got to find the best version of ourselves that's a consistent product on field."

Fraser only days earlier formally put his hand up to be Carlton's permanent senior coach, presenting to the club's selection panel. Every positive result between now and a final decision strengthens his case considerably.

Finals picture after Round 23

Beyond Carlton's own celebration, Sunday's result also ended the finals hopes of both St Kilda and Greater Western Sydney with one round still to play. The Blues' wildcard spot is now confirmed, setting up a September campaign that would have seemed almost unthinkable when Fraser first walked into the coaches' box mid-season.

"It's been an incredible 13 weeks at this point," Fraser said. "There's a lot more work in front of us, but I think the players deserve an enormous amount of credit for the resilience they've shown, and the appetite to want to keep getting better."