‘Step up and dig in': Skipper's urgent ask
A day after Carlton president Rob Priestley committed to keeping coach Michael Voss in the chair until the end of the season, Cripps said his job included trying to block the 'external' noise that is growing louder by the day in the wake of last week's horror loss to Port Adelaide.
Former Hawthorn premiership star Jordan Lewis floated the idea that Cripps, as well as star forward Charlie Curnow, could provide the Blues value on the trade market.
Cripps conceded times were indeed dark at the moment but in a new vodcast said staying positive, and creating 'energy', was as much as he could do in order to keep the wheels turning.
'The thing I really try to focus on as well with the other leaders is making sure we're all on the same page but also trying to keep the energy high … as much as you can, you've got to try and block the external out and it can be loud,' Cripps told the new vodcast On The Inside. Patrick Cripps and Tom Mitchell are part of the On The Inside vodcast. Josh Chadwick/AFL Photos Credit: Supplied
'Like for the moment, for us, it's really loud on the outside, so (it's about) how you can keep eyes in and really control and live the standards but also create the energy.'
Crisis is not new to Carlton, or Cripps, who has watched two coaches be sacked since 2019 before Voss was installed, taking the Blues all the way to the preliminary final in 2023 and an elimination final in 2024.
But the wheels have fallen off this season, and things don't get easier with a clash against ladder leaders Collingwood on Friday night followed by a match against reigning premiers Brisbane.
With the walls closing in, Cripps said now was the time he would find out a lot of about himself as a leader and his teammates' capacity to come through it all.
'You find out a lot about yourself, I reckon, (in) these times, not only as a player but as a leader, but also (about) guys around you, the ones that really want to step up and dig in versus, like I said before, the ones that want to step away,' he said in the sit-down with fellow Brownlow medallists Tom Mitchell and Lachie Neale.
'But I feel like we've got the right group of people at the club to really band together and stick together.
'And we've got your (Mitchell's) mob this week, mate, so it's always a big clash, big rivalry, which usually brings out the best in both sides.'
Carlton has slumped to 11th on the ladder with a 6-9 win-loss record.
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ABC News
3 hours ago
- ABC News
The inside story of the first AFLW game as told through the eyes of the players
On February 3, 2017, the very first AFLW game was played between Collingwood and Carlton at Princes Park in Melbourne. Tonight, the same sides will open the 10th season of the women's competition when they meet again on the same ground. This is the story of that first night, as told by the players who were there. Brit Bonnici, Collingwood till present: "The whole thing came around really quickly. We got told it [the competition] was happening in 2020, then we got told it's happening in 2017 (in 2016). And so everything just happened all at once, and then all of a sudden, it's game day. "Our preseason didn't go for a long period of time. There was no real system or structure or any of that. It was very much bringing a group of girls together and then trying to get them to learn how to play together. "And then all of a sudden, in a click of a finger, it was game day." Jasmine Garner, then Collingwood, now North Melbourne captain: "I played forward back then and we had a lot of good forwards at Collingwood. The forward line was kind of built around Mo (Moana Hope) and I remember just thinking, 'Am I going to get selected?'." Darcy Vescio, Carlton till present: "I was still working upstairs [at Carlton as a graphic designer]. It was kind of a running joke that I was making graphics about the game and putting my face on things. … A few times people saw me clipping my own face to put on posters and I was like, 'Well, someone's got to do it'." Jordyn Allen, then a fan, now Collingwood: "As soon as we got the fixture, my dad and I and best mate Brooke, who was also in the talent pathway at the time, we pencilled in as many games as we could go to. The Carlton-Collingwood game was actually Nan's birthday that day. I remember having this real guilt, this confliction, do I stay for Nan's birthday? But Nan was like, 'No, no, go, go, go. You don't understand, this is history making'. "I remember getting home from school [on game day] and looking at my watch being like let's go. I couldn't get off the bus quick enough. I had my stuff set out." Vescio: "The whole week building up, I felt like I was just running on fumes. So excited and kind of a bit scared at the same time because I just didn't know what was to come. Nobody knew whether people were going to show up. "I remember my housemate Meg woke me up. It was game day and she was knocking on my door … she was like, 'Have you checked your phone?' And I was like, 'No'. And she was like, 'Check your phone, your Twitter has been hacked' … I thought it was so hilarious, and I was like, 'What are the odds?' Like someone from Collingwood who had done this to me. Like, 'you think that's going to throw me off my game?' Try again, try harder." Bonnici: "I didn't really know what to think or expect leading into the game … I think I was so naive to what the moment actually was and what it meant because I was sort of just young." Vescio: "I remember our first warm-up, we went out and I was looking around and it was starting to get full. Not full full but I was like, 'there's quite a lot of people here'." Garner: "It was like geez, it's a lot of people. You're running out and you couldn't really hear each other." Gab Pound, Carlton till present: "It was just amazing seeing just every seat pretty much filled. It was just like the atmosphere … you couldn't really explain it because it wasn't like a normal football atmosphere. It was just so many people in the community coming in and being like, this is history." Bonnici:"That was really crazy because before that moment, you'd play in front of your mum, your dad, your siblings, maybe they would come or a friend would maybe come, but that was all. Then all of a sudden we ran out and we're like, 'hang on, people are actually here'. "We stood around in a circle before we put our guernseys on and I remember in that moment, having that real bubbling feeling that I get on game day. Then we ran out and it was like, 'where did all these extra people just come from?' Everyone had just filled the stadium." Vescio: "Before the final run out with the banner, we were in this tiny little dark tunnel underneath the stand that's now been knocked down … That's when Loz [captain Lauren Arnell] had said, 'I know you're going to be nervous and everything, but make sure when you get out there, you take it in and have a look around and take a moment to enjoy what's going on'. "When we ran out, I looked around and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, there are so many people here'. I remember being like, there is just skin everywhere, there are so many people packed in, even the staircases in the grandstand were full." Bonnici: "When we did the national anthem, I remember looking around and it's a big game, so you get this feeling and I was just trying to be in the zone." Allen: "We drove around for 40 minutes trying to find a car park … We came up through one of the stands and we're like 'there is literally not a seat anywhere' … We ended up behind the Collingwood coach's box, behind the bench, which was not by design, it was literally the only place that was free. "We got there just as the ball was being thrown up … I just kind of remember looking at Brooke and being like 15 and I'd never teared up about anything in my life and here I am being in such a big moment." The game ended up being a lockout. At quarter-time, AFL chief Gillon McLachlan went outside the stadium to apologise to those who were locked out. He said the league wanted to let them in to stand in the aisles, but Victoria Police had advised it would not be safe. 24,568 supporters managed to make it inside. Bonnici: "One of my first kicks was on the boundary line and I remember getting so sidetracked by what was going on because I people were yelling over the fence and [I was] thinking they actually care." Garner: "The first goal, the ball went up, first bounce, first contest, I remember it was a bit kamikaze. And then I think it was Hutchie [Meg Hutchins] who did a long kick in and I don't know if it was meant for me, but the ball was coming in and I was just going back [and] I actually ended up taking an easy chest mark. "In the moment, I didn't think 'Oh, this could be the first goal ever kicked' it was just like 'I'll just go back and kick the goal' … Went back, quite an easy shot in the end, just went straight through and then all the girls got around me." Bonnici: "I remember Jazzy kicking the goal so clearly, you can remember where you were on the field. "To me it was so cool because it was Jas and I'd played with her before through youth girls, through nationals, at Sharks … then to see people celebrating her like that … I looked up and there was just so much noise." Garner: "We didn't kick another goal for the rest of the game. It was the Darcy Vescio Show after that." Bonnici: "The rest of the game was a bit of a blur. Except I remember there was a moment where Loz [Arnell] ran through me. She got me pretty good." Allen: "[In the stands] it was kind of like when you commentate the game to your mates, every single tackle, every single kick, every single mark, everything was just awesome. We were just so stoked. I reckon we stood there like the whole game [behind] the Collingwood bench, so we could hear them chatting. We could hear Wayne [Siekman, inaugural Magpies coach] on the bench talking back and forth." Carlton defeated Collingwood 7.4 (46) to 1.5 (11). Vescio had four goals. Garner: "After the siren, it was weird. We're playing for four points but at the same time, it was a celebration of women's footy … You never like to lose. But that was really the first time and I was just like, 'Oh, let's just enjoy it', like, just the joy on so many people's faces, it was just the start of AFLW." Vescio: "You could feel that people were not just there to cheer for Carlton or Collingwood, it felt like there was an energy that will never be replicated, it was just beyond anything I'd ever felt before. "It was just like the perfect night. I guess for us, especially having been able to win the game, and for me, being able to have played well in that game, I felt like it meant I could take everything in." Bonnici: "I remember doing the lap of honour at the end and sort of getting around people. And I've always been really competitive, so I just didn't want to do it. I was filthy that we were having to go around and high-five people after we lost. The competitor in me couldn't deal with that. "Somebody gave me their child to take a photo with them … Now I understand they wanted this baby to know they were part of that moment." Allen: 'We called mum and Nan on the way home and were like 'How cool was that?' Nan had had far too much to drink at home and was celebrating. "She kind of gave me a bit of a history lesson. She's like, 'Times were so different when I was growing up that girls didn't play sport full stop and now girls are playing traditionally men's sports'." Vescio: "I remember we went back to Gab Pound's. She was having a house party and we just danced … I think I went to bed at like 5:30am or something like that. "Because I could not sleep. I could not believe that that just happened. I had a press conference at like 10am the next morning. I remember just being like, 'Well, this is my life now … this is how I live'." Allen: "We were kind of [already] looking ahead to the next game in the fixture. Like we were like 'OK, that was awesome. Can't wait to go to Casey fields [to watch Melbourne]." Bonnici: "People always ask me, do you wish that you were younger so that you got to be a full-time footballer [from the start of your career] but to be 18 and be in that first game, that's something that no-one can ever take away from me. "I reckon it's really easy to get caught up in where AFLW is going but … I wouldn't change for a second the fact that I got to be part of that first-ever game and now get to be a part of growing the league alongside it."
The Australian
10 hours ago
- The Australian
AFLW Round 1: No. 1 pick Ash Centra leads new era at Collingwood
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News.com.au
11 hours ago
- News.com.au
AFLW round 1 expert tips and teams news
On a night designed to celebrate one era of AFLW, it's only fitting that we launch the next. This season of the competition promises to be the best yet. And it will kick off with two traditional powerhouses, just like it did 10 seasons ago. But this time, a new cast of faces will seek to take Collingwood and Carlton back to the top of the AFLW. The Magpies are set to unleash Ash Centra, one of the most hyped No. 1 picks in AFLW history. SCROLL DOWN FOR OUR EXPERT TIPS FOR ROUND 1 Equal parts skill and class, Centra does things on the footy field that mere mortals can only dream of pulling off. By the end of the season, Centra could be what Harley Reid is to West Coast – the supremely talented teenager who lifts an entire football club off the canvas. It won't be long until she's appointment viewing. At Carlton, a family legacy welcomes a fresh chapter. Sophie McKay, sister of Abbie and daughter of Andrew, will make her AFLW debut. Back on that magical night in February 2017, Sophie rang the bell to signify the start of the very first AFLW game. Tonight, she'll line-up alongside her sister, the pair hoping to follow in the footsteps of their father and win a flag with the navy blues. It'll be an equally special night for Abbie, leading Carlton as captain for the first time, 22 years after Andrew stepped into the role in the absence of Brett Ratten in 2003. Collingwood have a new skipper too. Foundation Magpie Ruby Schleicher has taken the reins, succeeding Brianna Davey. One of the most marketable players in the competition, Schleicher's soaring media profile is matched only by her footballing ability. Both skippers will hope to pair a new era of leadership with on-field success. Collingwood last played finals in 2022 while Carlton haven't qualified since 2020. Thursday night is the chance for both to land their first blow of season 2025. The Blues led by second-year coach Matthew Buck will be buoyed by top 10 draft pick Poppy Scholz, off-season recruit Tara Bohanna and returning Irishwoman Erone Fitzpatrick, finally fit again after suffering an ACL injury back in Round 10 of the 2023 season. The Pies will also unveil father-daughter selection Violet Patterson, forgotten forward Kalinda Howarth and new winger and lifelong Collingwood supporter Airlie Runnalls. Whatever the result, women's football is the winner. Here's to the next 10 seasons.
