Remember a few years ago, when injuries and the weight of carrying his football club seemed to get the better of Patrick Cripps?
The year was 2021, and the normally indomitable Carlton captain was in a serious slump. The horrid 2020 season was over and done with, and many expected him to bounce back to his normal numbers after the season with shortened games (yes, that shit season, Mr Dangerfield… ) was put behind him, but Cripps wasn’t himself. You could see it when he contested the footy at ground level. When taken off his feet, he was always the last one to get to his feet. He looked sore, probably because he was, and the weight of expectation on him to drag Carlton, kicking and screaming, back to relevancy, suddenly seemed far too heavy.
I can even remember people completely writing him off, back then.
It was the usual suspects, searching for a headline to grab the attention of the public. Was Cripps on his last legs? Had he shot his best shot?
No, he hadn’t, and two Brownlow Medals in the following three years put paid to those thoughts, with the deep thinkers that threw them out there, sauntering off tow look for someone else to bury under their unwanted opinions.
Patrick Cripps has been mighty for the Blues – hell, they should be making plans to erect a statue of him outside Ikon Park the very minute he announces he is done with the game, but what we’re seeing now is a club that is in the process of wasting the final prime years of one of the modern greats of the game.
This is year 12 of Cripps’ career at Carlton. In that period, he has managed to play in just four finals contests.
That’s it.
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