Patrick Cripps is the 2024 Brownlow Medal winner after a polling record-breaking 45 votes.
Saturday, 19 August 2023
Tom De Koning says Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps played a key role in convincing him to stay with the Blues.
"When it all started popping off in the media, about what was happening with my future, he was the first one to come to me and make sure I was all good with it. He pretty much said that he's been through it all before and told me it's not necessarily an easy decision to make," De Koning said.
"He said it was different for everyone and he just wanted to make sure I made the right decision for me, given where I was at. For me, it took a little bit of time to figure out what I wanted and where I was at. I ended up making the right decision for myself and he was a massive part of that."
Patrick Cripps takes to Instagram to slam a "factually incorrect" report that said he stayed a different hotel to his teammates during the Blues' trip to Sydney.
AFL CEO Gillon McLachlan expresses his frustration at the decision to overturn Patrick Cripps' round 21 suspension for his bump on Callum Ah Chee, which ultimately made the Carlton star eligible to win the Brownlow Medal.
“It made no sense to me in any way, and it is frustrating to have a legal view about due process or procedural fairness - a complete nonsense - really affect a clear mandate to protect the head. We confused our supporters and set ourselves back and that really frustrates me," McLachlan said.
“When you can have something that is so important, which is protecting the head, and a clear statement from the MRO and backed up by the Tribunal, and then the player getting off because of a legal technicality and nobody really understanding what the hell happened, I find that challenging."
Patrick Cripps will be the sole of captain Carlton in 2022. Former co-captain Sam Docherty will stand down from captaincy duties for the 2022 season as he focuses on his recovery from testicular cancer.
Cripps will be supported by vice-captains Sam Walsh and Jacob Weitering.
"Since arriving at the Club, I have seen first-hand the incredible passion Patrick has to bring team success to this football club. Equally, both Jacob and Sam set the standards for work-rate and professionalism and have earned the opportunity to lead as co-vice captains," Blues coach Michael Voss said.
Patrick Cripps signs a big six-year deal with Carlton that will keep him at the club until the end of 2027.
"I love this club, I love the people and I love the privilege of pulling on that navy blue jumper each and every week. This place has become home. My decision was that simple," Cripps said.
"I couldn't be more confident in what we are building here. It is not always going to be smooth sailing, but this group will not stop working until we achieve what we are striving for."
Carlton coach David Teague doesn't believe Patrick Cripps' contract situation will distract the team in 2021.
Cripps, one of the game's best contested midfielders and a three-time Carlton best and fairest winner, enters the 2021 season among the most high-profile free agents in the competition.
"In terms of his commitment to this footy club and the way he's going about it, what you want is for people to turn up and care about each other and make the place and the people around them as best as they can be. I feel Patrick is doing that as well as anyone at our footy club at the moment," Teague said.
Carlton coach David Teague hasn't raised any issues with Patrick Cripps' treatment from opposition taggers, saying he will continue to work with the Blues co-captain to shrug the increased attention rather than focus on whether he deserves more free kicks.
The club confirmed earlier this week that it had raised Cripps' treatment with the AFL, after a number of incidents surfaced from last weekend's victory over the Kangaroos showing the superstar midfielder being manhandled and dragged to the ground at stoppages.
"I think every opponent puts a lot of time into the opposition's best players," Teague said.
"Patrick is that for us, so I understand it. To be honest, I don't get caught up too much into it. I speak to Patrick about his role. We talk about ways of trying to combat it, but in terms of the umpiring I feel they're doing their best. It's very hard to watch every contest."
Patrick Cripps is eager to reap the rewards of a trimmed-down physique when the 2020 AFL season recommences later in June.
"You always try and find little ways to get better. I'm always going to be strong as a taller midfielder, so it's just finding little ways to get marginal improvement," Cripps said.
"Who knows? I'll have to let my footy be the judge of that. But I feel good, I definitely feel better being a bit lighter and I'm covering the ground a fair bit better."
Nine players received more than $1 million in the 2019 AFL season, with Dustin Martin and Nat Fyfe the standout earners.
It is believed Martin and Fyfe each earnt more than $1.3 million on 2019 accounts, well clear of the game's other million-dollar players headed by West Coast's Jeremy McGovern, GWS's Jeremy Cameron and Sydney's Lance Franklin.
Others in, or near, the million-dollar club include the Giants' Josh Kelly, Collingwood's Scott Pendlebury, Geelong's Patrick Dangerfield, Dog Marcus Bontempelli, Eagle Andrew Gaff, and Carlton's Patrick Cripps.
Just a year after winning the NAB AFL Rising Star award, teenage sensation Sam Walsh has joined Carlton's leadership group.
Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty have been named co-captains for the second straight year, flanked by veterans Marc Murphy and Ed Curnow.
Another former No.1 draft pick, Jacob Weitering, and veteran defender Liam Jones join Walsh as the three new additions to the seven-man group.
"This is a significant step in the growth of our football club with our emerging generation of talent now ready to step into senior leadership positions," Docherty said.
"Weiters, Jonesy and Walshy are exceptional leaders in everything they do, whether it be on the training track, during games and living the values of our football club ? that is why they have earned their place in the leadership group.
"All three of them are born for the role, are quality Carlton people and we are excited to see them continue to grow as footballers and as individuals."
Patrick Cripps wins his third John Nicholls Medal as Carlton's best and fairest for the 2019 season.
Cripps polled 143 votes to become just the eighth player in the club's history to win three Blues best and fairests, with Ed Curnow (138 votes) and defender Lachie Plowman (134) close behind.
"To have won three John Nicholls Medals at just 24 is amazing – he now puts himself alongside some of the club’s best and he thoroughly deserves that," Carlton coach David Teague said.
"He is just such a competitor who works tirelessly to get his job done week in and week out, he sets the standards for our group and works to get the best out of not only himself but the whole group.
"It’s exciting for us to think that he has only just played 100 games and we think his best footy is still ahead of him."
Patrick Cripps produces an extraordinary game, ensuring a trying week that began with Brendon Bolton's sacking ended with a 15-point Blues triumph.
The 24-year-old superstar racked up 38 possessions (16 contested), eight clearances, five inside 50s and four goals as Carlton rallied from a 37-point deficit to beat in-form Brisbane.
"He put the team on his back and he's just an amazing player," Carlton teammate Zac Fisher said.
"The way he plays; he's a very brutal, physical presence and that definitely lifts us."
Matthew Kennedy has declared the Blues' onball unit finally ready to take the burden off star co-captain Patrick Cripps.
"The player he is, he'll keep battling through it, but he can't do that week in week out for several years," Kennedy said of Cripps.
"There's a lot excitement amongst us younger players wanting to take that load off him and I think the start of pre-season has been a really good indicator for us that we're going places as a midfield group and a team.
"There's expectation from ourselves and as a younger group to help him out a bit through there."
Patrick Cripps sought meetings with several figures outside the club, including Brisbane premiership player Jonathan Brown, since being named the new co-captain of Carlton.
"I've caught up with a few external people," Cripps said.
"With leadership, you've got your own unique style. You take parts from different people you talk to, but the best advice is to just be yourself and create your own leadership."
Carlton appoints dual skippers for first time in club history, confirming that Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty will take the mantle in 2019.
They will assume the role from Marc Murphy, who has stepped down from the position after leading Carlton as its sole captain for the last six years.
"When you think about being named captain of the club, it's probably something you could never really dream of. It’s surreal, but a huge honour," Cripps said.
"I try and lead by my actions and I really believe that leadership is something you can’t master, but you always try to improve. So the biggest lesson I learnt this year in that stand-in role was to lead by being true to yourself."
Docherty will co-lead the side despite having sat out for the entire 2018 season as he recovered from an ACL injury.
"Both Crippa and I have sat down and had really honest chats about how we’re going to take this group forward together," Docherty said.
"Despite our various differences in personality and approaches to leadership, we complement each other well and the main thing for us is our common goal to take this club back to sustained success."
Patrick Cripps caps a career-best 2018 season with his second John Nicholls Medal, dominating the club's best and fairest count at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Veteran defender Kade Simpson polled 108 votes in second, while Ed Curnow and Charlie Curnow tied for third spot with 98 votes each.
Patrick Cripps sets the record for the most contested possessions in a season against Adelaide at Etihad Stadium.
Needing 23 to overtake Patrick Dangerfield's record of 385 from 2017, Cripps willed himself to 24, finishing with 37 disposals and a stunning 18 clearances along the way.
Saturday, 28 July 2018
David Swallow is ruled out for the rest of the Sun's clash against Carlton after a heavy Patrick Cripps tackle at Metricon Stadium.
Swallow copped the full weight of the Carlton midfielder after disposing of the ball and had to be helped off by a number of Suns trainers.
Play had to be momentarily stopped while Swallow was groggily helped from the field.
Carlton coach Brendon Bolton says he plans to use Patrick Cripps more up forward in 2018.
"I think his next level will be being able to mark the ball and hurt (the opposition) on the scoreboard moving forward. That won't be just a quick fix, that will be a gradual improvement but I think that will be his next evolution," Bolton said of Cripps.
"When you stand next to him, you realise how big he is for a midfielder – he's key-position size. So if he can keep learning that craft up forward working with David Teague that just adds another part to his game."
Marc Murphy will skipper the Blues for a sixth consecutive season in 2018.
Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty are Murphy's new deputies in an eight-man leadership group including Kade Simpson, Ed Curnow and fresh faces Matthew Kreuzer, Alex Silvagni and Lachie Plowman.
Patrick Cripps will miss the rest of the season with a fractured fibula.
Cripps copped an accidental kick to the back of his left leg when he attempted to smother Melbourne defender Jayden Hunt during the Blues' clash against the Demons at the MCG.
Scans revealed he had suffered a fractured fibula but would not require surgery.
"It would usually be approximately a six-week injury which, given the timing, takes us through to the end of the season," Carlton football chief Andrew McKay said.
"It's obviously very disappointing for both Patrick and the club, but he will make a full recovery well before the start of the 2018 pre-season campaign."
Carlton expects Patrick Cripps to face Port Adelaide next week despite the star midfielder playing sore in the Blues' loss to Gold Coast.
The best and fairest winner looked hampered at stages in his team's 26-point defeat, but still managed to gather 17 disposals and nine tackles through the midfield.
"He toughed the game out and worked for us in and around congestion, but he's a little bit sore," Carlton coach Brendon Bolton said.
"I think he got a couple of big hits in and around the upper body. He battled on, he's a soldier. You've got to respect him.
"I think he'll play [next week], he's just sore. He's a guy who plays contested possession footy [but] I'm pretty sure he'll get up."
Patrick Cripps suffers a fractured jaw after being struck by Jordan Lewis behind play in the last quarter of the Eagles' clash with Carlton.
"Patrick had scans last night which confirmed a small hairline fracture in his jaw," Blues football manager Andrew McKay said.
"Given his jaw is stable and not displaced, we will assess him further over the coming days to determine whether he will be available to play this Sunday against the Bombers."
Lewis is offered a three-match suspension by the Match Review Panel who deemed him to have intentionally struck Cripps.
At the age of 30, Dennis Armfield has been added to Carlton's leadership group for the first time, taking the spot of the retired Andrew Walker.
Marc Murphy has retained the captaincy at the Blues with veteran defender Kade Simpson the vice-captain for the third year overall.
Patrick Cripps, Sam Docherty, Bryce Gibbs and Ed Curnow round out the seven-player leadership group.
"In 2016, we set about building leadership density across our list. This year, we are sticking to the roadmap and ensuring there is a consistent level of leadership across the board," Blues coach Brendon Bolton said.
"With only one change to our leadership group for 2017, we are building on the foundations that were set last season."
Patrick Cripps is expected to be available for selection in round one of 2017 despite suffering a stress reaction in his lower back in late November.
"He'll be fine, I guarantee he'll be ready to go," Blues teammate Sam Docherty said.
"From the advice that I've got from people at the club and from him it seems like it's probably going to be a bit of a rest for now, but he'll be able to reload somewhere in January and obviously the games start in March, so we've got plenty of time."
Carlton coach Brendon Bolton has praised the leadership of stars Bryce Gibbs and Patrick Cripps in 2016.
"They're carrying a fair load in there no doubt," Bolton said.
"We want to be a team in time, as we build our list, that has more depth in the midfield, so they've had to shoulder a fair burden. To their credit, they haven't taken a backward step.
"These guys have been in the midfield on their own grinding away and we need to continue to build depth in that area because it's hard to play four quarters every game of the year but they've kept fighting those lads, they've been good leaders."
Marc Murphy is reappointed as Carlton captain for 2016, but the Blues have overhauled their leadership group with the skipper and Bryce Gibbs the only survivors from the 2015 line-up.
In the new-look team, veteran Kade Simpson will take over as sole vice-captain from Murphy's 2015 joint deputies Bryce Gibbs and Michael Jamison.
Youngsters Patrick Cripps, 20, and Sam Docherty, 22, are among five additions to the 2016 group, as the Blues' next generation of leaders begins to emerge.
Hard-running midfielder Ed Curnow, 26, also joins the leadership team for the first time, while former members Simpson, 31, and Andrew Walker, 29, return after one-year absences.
Walker said Murphy had always loomed as the logical captaincy choice.
"After the tough year that we had and the amount of scrutiny that he copped I think the natural thing would have been for somebody to go into their shell," Walker said.
"But he has always stood up and really been at the forefront for the Carlton footy club. He copped a lot of scrutiny, but I think the way he was able to come out of it and the amount of confidence he's still got to lead the footy club is going to be great for us going forward."
Patrick Cripps signs a three-year contract extension with Carlton to remain at the club until the end of 2019.
"I think we're definitely going down the right direction. Some of the young boys we've got in are very exciting talents," Cripps said.
"It will all come down to how hard we want to work as a group and as a team and also individuals. If we can work hard and fast-track our development, you never know how long it is going to take but hopefully by then we're competing for the premiership."
Patrick Cripps has capped an outstanding season by winning Carlton's best and fairest award in a nail-biting count.
Cripps won the John Nicholls Medal with 68 votes, just one ahead of Blues captain Marc Murphy, with defender Zach Tuohy a further three votes behind in third.
Carlton football boss Andrew McKay said Cripps' best and fairest honour was a testament to his "relentless" work ethic and determination to improve.
"It's well documented that in the off-season he went away and hired his own running coach and returned at the end of pre-season fitter, stronger and with the kind of attitude that we just knew he would be in for a big year," McKay said.
"The way Patrick has gone about it, and the leadership he has shown along the way, makes him a real role model to the other young players in our team.
"We know he has a big future and we look forward to him wearing the navy blue jumper for a long time to come."
Andrew Walker has urged Carlton's youngsters to follow the lead of Patrick Cripps this off-season, with the second-year midfielder's dedication last summer behind his eye-catching rise.
"There was no doubt he was going to have a good year with the amount of work he put in during the off-season, the amount of questions he was asking of a lot of the senior players," Walker said.
"Our young players can have a look at the way Crippsy's gone about it and go away at the end of this year, and understand how important it is with your 10 weeks off, speak to him and have a look at what program he put in place for last year."
Interim Blues coach John Barker believes Patrick Cripps has the NAB AFL Rising Star Award sewn up after another commanding best-afield performance against Melbourne.
The 20-year-old wasn't troubled by the close checking of Demons midfielder Bernie Vince in the Blues' 23-point win, leading the field with 26 disposals and eight clearances.
"Rising Star - absolutely," Barker said.
"He was tagged today by one of the premium run-with players of the competition and put a nice, sizeable gap on him a few times and did a great job.
"He's an exceptional talent. They're the sort of players that we look at for our fans and members that we need to build around, and grow that talent from underneath and provide some quality to allow us to go forward and be a good team."
Carlton young gun Patrick Cripps deserves to win the NAB AFL Rising Star Award after yet another brilliant individual effort, according to his coach John Barker.
Cripps produced the best performance of his blossoming 19-game career against Collingwood on Saturday, winning a game-high 11 clearances, including six in a frantic fourth quarter, and 35 possessions.
He is ranked No.10 in the AFL for average contested possessions (13.1) and 15th for average clearances (6.1), with Barker certain he should become the Blues' first winner of the Rising Star award.
"Absolutely, but I haven't seen enough of the other Rising Star (nominees) to provide an unbiased opinion," Barker said after the Blues' 18-point loss to Collingwood.
"He's growing and he's learning and he's so strong in the contest. He's growing up really quickly and turning into a man.
"His ability to absorb pressure and absorb physicality and still get nice clean hands out to our players to advantage … he was enormous."
After having just played 12 games, Patrick Cripps receives a hard tag by Gold Coast tagger Andrew Raines in Carlton's win against the Suns.
Cripps fought his way back from just three possessions in the opening term to win his match-up with 20 possessions (10 contested) and seven clearances.
"He gets educated on what that looks like, he gets to learn how to cope with that, and he starts to work out mechanisms on how to deal with those situations," Carlton caretaker coach John Barker said.
"I'm sure they will be coming thick and fast throughout his future."
Patrick Cripps is named the round four NAB AFL Rising Star nominee after he played a leading role in the Blues' pressure-relieving first win over St Kilda on Anzac Day.
In just his sixth career match, the 20-year-old collected 33 touches – 23 contested – laid 11 crunching tackles, kicked his first goal and, true to his nickname 'The Extractor', won eight clearances.
Cripps says a post-season chat with Chris Judd has been the catalyst for his flying start to 2015.
Cripps played three senior matches last year, when a broken leg hampered his progress, but a post-season review with Judd opened his eyes about how he needed to get fitter and quicker to become an AFL regular.
Taking the dual Brownlow medallist's advice on board, the native West Australian returned home to the family farm near Northampton and went to work with West Coast's former sprint coach, Mark Neitz.
"He was my footy coach when I was about 14, so I rang him up and he was good to help. He was awesome," Cripps told AFL.com.au.
"In the off-season I cut back a bit on my weight – I dropped about three or four kilos – and tried to get my running power up.
"I did a bit of sprint training to try and change my body shape and get a bit quicker.
"I dropped a fair bit off my 2km time-trial. By the end of pre-season I was a fair way ahead of where I was the year before."
Patrick Cripps signs a two-year deal with Carlton that will keep him at the club until the end of 2017.
"I like where the club is heading, we've got a great young group now and it looks good for next year," Cripps said.
"As a young midfielder, it's obviously massive for me to be able to learn off 'Juddy' (Chris Judd), 'Murph' (Marc Murphy) and 'Gibbsy' (Bryce Gibbs). They're obviously first-class players.
"As a kid I grew up barracking for the Eagles and Juddy was my idol, so to learn off him and the other guys is just amazing and definitely fast-tracks my development as a player.
"And with someone like Juddy, you don't know how long he's got left, so you try and pick his brain as much as you can and get the most out of him."
Patrick Cripps makes his AFL debut for Carlton at the MCG with 17 disposals (5 kicks and 12 handballs), 3 marks and 5 tackles in a 23-point loss to Melbourne.
Tuesday, 26 November 2013
Carlton's top draft pick Patrick Cripps, nicknamed "The Extractor", says he doesn't mind being compared to Blues great Greg Williams.
"From what I've heard he (was) a sensational player. For my game style to be compared [with] him is an honour," Cripps said.
"I don't like to compare my game to really anyone – everyone's got different traits – but I'd love to watch a bit of his footage and try and learn things off it."