Senior 9. Patrick Cripps - 2024 Brownlow Medallist - Dual Winner - Captain Colossus

[Aphrodite]

 

[Silvagnis]

Pick 13: Carlton Blues - Patrick Cripps
Height: 192cm, Weight: 88kg, DOB: 18/03/1995
Club: East Fremantle (WA)

Carlton is a team that could use a good tall forward yet I think that they should go for the best available mid, as I rate the mid prospects higher than McCarthy. This is definitely higher than most have Cripps, yet as an inside mid who is capable of dominating in contested situations but is also good at spreading from the contest he represents excellent value and upside. I think he will take a little bit more time to develop in the two’s, primarily to work on his outside ability, versatility and just to tighten up his disposal, but he is capable of having an impact to some extent in his first year. Cripps has had a very good year this year both in the U18 champs, where he made All Australian, and at WAFL Colts level where he has dominated at times. Throughout the U18 champs Cripps showed that he was a very good inside player and capable of winning clearances and contests, as he averaged 6 clearances a game. He has also shown the ability to spread well from the contest and along with his disposal this has really improved throughout the year. Personally I think that Cripps could be a bit of a hidden gem in this year’s draft and turn out to be one of the better inside mids especially given his size.

Strengths

• Inside Game – Patrick is one of the best inside players in the draft and probably ranks second behind Crouch for mine as far as pure clearance winners are concerned. His hands in close are exceptional, he is very clean, he reads the ball well and makes excellent quick decisions. He also has the strength and size at 192cm to stand up in tackles, absorb hits and lay tackles. I think he has the capabilities to be an above average clearance player and part of a strong midfield group going forward.
• Strength/power – Cripps looks to be pretty strong already, he is a good size for a mid and seems to have a fair bit of power. He appears be quite quick off the mark and has a good initial burst (not elite but more power in that he can break tackles). I think he will develop into a powerful tall inside mid.
• Decision Making/footy smarts – Cripps makes good decisions with ball in hand and has an excellent footy brain imo. He will be the type of player who makes those around him look better as he is excellent at giving the ball to those in better positions than himself in stoppages and makes quick decisions under pressure. He is also getting better at spreading from the contests and his outside game has shown some real improvement throughout the year. He is a natural ball winner and just accumulates possessions with ease.
• Clean Hands – Cripps has very clean hands and rarely fumbles the footy, he is great at finding the ball and keeping his feet in contests.
• Kicking – Cripps is a slightly above average kick of the footy imo, although certainly not an elite kick by any stretch. He seems to have a good technique and he has definitely improved this year, but he does tend to float the ball a little to much imo, and bombs it to contests instead of hitting up the short option. There is definitely room for improvement but he does hit most of his targets.

Weaknesses/Areas of Improvement

• Cripps has a kick to handball ratio of roughly 1:1, this limits his hurt factor a bit. Additionally a lot of his clearances are done with handballs not breaking away and kicking the pill forward. He is still reasonably damaging though as he tends to handball to players who are in space and able to make a good decision.
• Marking – Cripps looks to have the potential to develop his marking and is a reasonably good mark overhead. He is strong through the core and has very clean hands so this could be a strength in the future, although at the moment it needs improvement.
• Athleticism – Cripps is not a super athlete, but he is not a poor athlete either, probably just your average AFL athlete. He won’t burst out of packs or side step players with ease but that isn’t his game. Endurance wise though I think he is pretty good, although he should improve in that area.
• Outside Game – Once again this area has really improved throughout the year but I still think that it is not a true strength of his and there is still some improvement left. Cripps spreads very well from the contest and works hard but he is not super damaging with his outside play given that he doesn’t run with the ball much.
• Versatility – At this stage Cripps doesn’t have much versatility and only really plays as an inside player to a high standard. He could do with really developing his outside game and in particular his forward play as he has shown an ability to push forward and kick goals at Colts level. This would take his game to the next level.

 

[Dramoth]

Paddy Crisps

Now thats scary... coz I had a pack of those last night with a couple of stubbies while watching 'Super 8'...

quite tasty crisps actually

 

[etsal1]

 

[zeeCFC]

Needs more crip puns!

 

[MileHigh]

Man child! Baby face on a beast of a body. Very buoyant about this draft selection. I reckon we are going to go after an already established KPF at the end of next year and looking at GWS having 4 of them I reckon we will be in at least one of their boys ears to trade to us next year. This is EXACTLY the kind of player I wanted us to take. Highlights packages can be flattering, but that was an extremely promising highlight reel to watch. The only short coming I can see is he doesn't have springy legs, but geez if he had everything he'd be going top 2 wouldn't he. Fits our needs and a great get!

 

[skadoosh]

We all need to learn how to crip walk

 

[Tony Lynn 15]

Being a huge West Coast rap fan, I have to applaud the club in recruiting a Crip! Albeit Patrick Cripps. Welcome to the Blues young man, I will have a 40 ounce in celebration tonight and I have my blue flag hanging on the left side today as a mark of respect...

Peace!

 

[LanceRomance]

We all need to learn how to crip walk

I just hope Pat learns to do it in his studs to celebrate a goal.

 

[ESKIE]

Crippa.

We go way back.

http://instagram.com/pcrippa#

Another name change to Crippa ...

 

[rp84]

Man child! Baby face on a beast of a body. Very buoyant about this draft selection. I reckon we are going to go after an already established KPF at the end of next year and looking at GWS having 4 of them I reckon we will be in at least one of their boys ears to trade to us next year. This is EXACTLY the kind of player I wanted us to take. Highlights packages can be flattering, but that was an extremely promising highlight reel to watch. The only short coming I can see is he doesn't have springy legs, but geez if he had everything he'd be going top 2 wouldn't he. Fits our needs and a great get!

Exactly. Reid will be ours this time next year.

 

[Wickzki]

I feel like we got Talia'd all over again.

Hope Cripps proves me wrong.

Edit: So glad I was wrong. I don't particularly like the bolters and Cripps was one.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

I was hoping Cripps would make it to the Bloods ... at Pick #15.

 

[Silvagnis]

I feel like we got Talia'd all over again.

Hope Cripps proves me wrong.

We were Fyfe'd.

Cripps looks a very good "bolter".

 

[Wickzki]

We were Fyfe'd.

Cripps looks a very good "bolter".

Family/friends in WA who attend most South and East Freo games ranked McCarthy over Cripps - one even plays with Cripps. Like the Lucas draft the KP was drafted with the very next selection. Still, they felt that it was a winning pick just perhaps not as good as it may have been. The positive is that no one will ever doubt Cripps' work ethic or toughness and those are two traits I value especially highly so I'm not disappointed as such in drafting Cripps as I am in not drafting McCarthy when he was on the board.

If McCarthy shows anything over the next two years we can still go for him when GWS realize they have too many KPFs.

 

[Silvagnis]

They're not experienced recruiters with an eye for talent and character.

Wouldn't chuck Yarran and Menzel under the bus for talls picked after our selections.

 

[Blueboys11]

They're not experienced recruiters with an eye for talent and character.

Wouldn't chuck Yarran and Menzel under the bus for talls picked after our selections.

Im seriously doubting the blokes we got running the show at Carlton can claim to have the greatest eye for talent.

McCarthy better prove himself to be a dud!

What happened to wanting to find players to run and spread? I could beat Cripps beep test score!!

 

[Travis bloke]

Hope you guys are happy with your selections.Good luck.
Still I cant believe your recruiters overlooked Macarthy and GWS now have 4 power forwards.

 

[T2B_]

I don't share the negative feelings.

This kid had a huge growth spurt and is still getting accustomed to a bigger frame. He could be an absolute midfield truck like Jobe Watson (without the PEDs)

Definitely the sort we need, especially with an ever aging Judd.

 

[C4[2]Yo`DooR]

Hope you guys are happy with your selections.Good luck.
Still I cant believe your recruiters overlooked Macarthy and GWS now have 4 power forwards.

I still can't believe your recruiters overlooked Aish.

 

[Wickzki]

They're not experienced recruiters with an eye for talent and character..

On that part, you're wrong. I'm leaving it at that without going into detail. If you want more, feel free to PM me.

They nailed the Bootsma attitude/aptitude issue. They nailed Kane Lucas. They were very much in favor of Yarran though thought it would take a good five years for that pick to pay off and they were among those who said that if the knee was fine Menzel was the pick of the draft from a skill, work ethic and attitude perspective.

They're NOT perfect. The one BIG miss that they had was Bower. He thought Bower was going to be an All-Australian CHB/HBF for the majority of his career.

 

[Travis bloke]

I still can't believe your recruiters overlooked Aish.

No your right I agree.I hope this other kid freeman works out.Sharenberg could be good but I hope he is not injury prone time will tell
Cripps seems a versatile player at 192cm he could probably play in a few positions ?
I think the Blues will pick up Mitch Thorp next week who really is ready made.He can play key back and forward quite well similar to Waite. That's probably why the Blues didn't pick up Macarthy ?

 

[Lorenzo]

Love this kid, he is indeed the extractor. I am ignoring other teams and if they got better players because Cripps is exactly what we need. Once he regains fitness he is gonna be a super inside player who's gonna be first to the ball and dishing it out or drawing free kicks. His disposal of the ball in tight finds his teammates, but is also quick so he won't get pinged for holding the ball and will improve give us the ballo n the spread.

 

[jimsta10]

If you're reading this, welcome to Big Footy mate...

 

[Just Kreuzing]

Hope you guys are happy with your selections.Good luck.
Still I cant believe your recruiters overlooked Macarthy and GWS now have 4 power forwards.

By the time McCarthy is ready for regular senior AFL football as a KPF we will have Tom Boyd back ready to explode after getting a decent grounding in our development squad (GWS)....

 

[Kramer1]

We did draft a 195cm rig who has played plenty of footy forward...not all is lost. Plus Thorp in the rookie draft.