A Tigers great is helping this former Sun spark a Blues revival for the ages

September 1, 2026 — 4:00pm

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In today’s AFL Briefing, your wrap of footy news:

Carlton’s Ben Ainsworth has been working on his mindset this season with Richmond premiership great Alex Rance.

Max Holmes is firming to return for the Cats’ knockout final against Carlton.

Carlton forward Ben Ainsworth concedes the Blues’ miraculous resurgence is ripped from the pages of a Ted Lasso script.

“It’s pretty crazy to be in this position,” he said ahead of his team’s elimination final against Geelong on Friday.

“Obviously, playing in our first elimination final off the back of the wildcard final, and where we were at 1-8 [win-loss record] at the start of the year, to be here now is pretty incredible.”

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The Blues’ remarkable uprising continued last weekend with a thrilling win over Melbourne in a high-pressure wildcard final. Ainsworth was a key part of the victory, booting three goals in front of 91,733 fans at the MCG.

He said new coach Josh Fraser had instilled “a great sense of belief” in the group since he took over from Michael Voss mid-season.

“A lot of the pillars at the start of the year were laid in terms of the foundation of how we want to play and things like that,” he said.

“But it’s probably the small acts that we’re celebrating internally that probably doesn’t get blown up in lights externally, and I think everyone’s valuing that, and that’s incentivising our fans as well, which is good.”

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After nine seasons and 158 games for Gold Coast, the dynamic forward was traded to Carlton at the end of 2025, reuniting with his former Victorian Country teammates from underage football Harry McKay and Jacob Weitering.

Ainsworth revealed he’d been doing “a lot of work” on his mindset this season with Richmond premiership great Alex Rance.

After announcing his shock retirement in 2019, Rance departed Richmond to focus on his family and faith – as a devout Jehovah’s Witness. Rance has since worked with Gold Coast as a leadership consultant and mental-performance coach.

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“He’s [Rance] obviously still up on the Gold Coast, but he’s a fantastic person to have in my corner ... pretty much just to filter out all the stuff throughout the week and over the game, and then reset for the coming week,” Ainsworth said.

Even since his move to Carlton, Ainsworth still catches up with Rance each Monday, describing the former Tiger as “a great support network”.

“[We] filter out everything, whether it was good or bad, just be refreshed for the coming week. And then also focusing on my strengths; just bringing them to the forefront of mind before the game on the weekend,” he explained.

When asked what the quirkiest piece of advice he’d received from Rance, Ainsworth grinned.

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“Oh no, not a lot, but I can tell you at the Gold Coast days, he was just a ball of energy,” he laughed. “Like he’d roll into the room, just bloody dancing or whatever, singing. He’s a great man.”

Despite the growing fanfare around the Blues finals performance, Ainsworth agreed there was a sense of calm among the playing group.

“People are going to come for us when the bad times arise, and, obviously, they’re going to celebrate with us in the good times. But no matter what, we’re going to have each other there,” he said.

- Hannah Kennelly

Finals return for Geelong star looking ‘positive’

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Geelong star Max Holmes is firming to return for an elimination final bout with Carlton, Cats coach Chris Scott admitting the midfielder looked good enough to play last week.

Holmes hasn’t played since fracturing an ankle and needing syndesmosis surgery in round 19.

But the 24-year-old has been training strongly and is again expected to push his case during a main session at GMHBA Stadium on Tuesday.

Holmes ran freely during the brief time when media were allowed to watch training.

“He trained last Thursday, and he looked pretty good to my eye,” Scott said of Holmes.

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“If you put it in the really old-school, back when I started playing, he might have played last week because you watched him run around Thursday and go, ‘OK, well he can do it’.

“I just think we’ve shifted a little bit philosophically from those days.

“It’s getting to the point where he just keeps doing what has been asked of him.”

Missing out on a double chance, Geelong don’t have the luxury of giving Holmes another week off to be certain he is right to play.

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Holmes would give the Cats’ midfield a giant boost coming up against an in-form Blues set-up featuring the likes of young gun Jagga Smith, Sam Walsh and Patrick Cripps.

“I’m thinking hard without having come to a conclusion yet,” Scott said of the Holmes decision.

“But that’ll obviously be a team decision as well, led in large part by Max.”

If Holmes plays, the Cats will virtually be at full-strength after Scott declared small forward Oliver Wiltshire right to return from a foot injury.

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Carlton also have the recent edge over the Cats, winning four of their past five battles, including a thriller in round 12.

Get around our AFL finals coverage

Mega finals preview: The role of home-ground advantage, experience, momentum

Elimination final countdown: The key Blue who could be rushed back against Geelong

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More:

AFL 2026

Carlton Blues

Geelong Cats

AFL injury ward

Hannah Kennelly is an award-winning sports reporter and Formula 1 writer at The Age.Connect via email.

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