Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty to lead new Carlton era
CARLTON made a historic announcement last night about its new co-captains but all the talk on social media was about an ill-advised graphic that appeared to show them fleeing a sinking ship.
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CARLTON will have joint captains for the first time in its history after Marc Murphy last night handed the reins to Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty.
The news was widely applauded but was drowned out on social media by an ill-advised decision by the AFL’s graphic art department.
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The league announced the news by posting a picture on its Facebook page featuring Cripps and Docherty wearing boat captain hats in front of the prow of a giant ship named “Navy Blues”.
The problem was most fans immediately interpreted the ship in the illustration as running aground or sinking to the murky depths. And it reminded plenty of history’s most famous maritime disaster.
Haha, I think the titanic is the perfect metaphor for Carlton, once a great club with a future, now a complete ship reck taking as much talent as possible down with it 😂😂
— samuel hallett 19 (@sam27654627) October 5, 2018
The Facebook post attracted more than 1600 comments, most either from angry Carlton fans or supporters of rival clubs who delighted in sailing references, few of them positive.
“Abandon ship!” declared one while another observed that the Blues “need a ship that big to transport all their wooden spoons”.
It also gained a life of its own on fan pages and Twitter.
The top comment on the AFL page, from Blues fan Molly, has been liked almost 600 times: “As a Carlton supporter I am bitterly disappointed with this picture. The first thing which comes to mind is the Titanic and well everyone knows what happens in that story.”
Ray Kimber declared: “Whoever is responsible for this poster needs to be fired, its ridiculous
and embarrassing ... I wonder why we’re on the bottom of the ladder???”
Even the AFL thinks Carlton is doomed lol #Titanic https://t.co/A818Q1OPiB
— Ro (@roligion_) October 5, 2018
Murphy, who has led the Blues since 2013, told coach Brendon Bolton at the end of the
season that he felt the time was right to invoke the next generation of players to the role with
Cripps — who last night claimed his second John Nicholls Medal as the Blues’ best-and-fairest player — and Docherty considered by the 31-year-old to be the perfect match to lead the Blues into a new era.
“Since ‘Bolts’ arrived at the club, we have focused really heavily on cultivating leadership amongst our group and we have done a huge amount of work investing in our younger players,” the outgoing captain said.
“It was pretty strongly felt across the board that both Doc and Crippa were the perfect pair to take this club into the future, with their leadership differences complementing each other strongly.
Docherty, 24, missed all of this season following an ACL injury but has served alongside Cripps as Carlton’s vice-captain this year.
The elevation marks the first time in the Blues’ 154 years that two players will share the role, but the prospect excited the defender, who said it had already sparked plans between the pair.
“Clearly the joint captaincy is a new direction for the club, but 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.”
Cripps — who acted as stand-in captain for eight games as Murphy battled injury — described his emotion at the promotion as “surreal”.
“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,” he said.
“Murph … has been such a mentor for us and been great with advice. Next year, he will continue to have a strong leadership presence within the group and he will be someone both ‘Doc’ and I continue to use as a mentor and confidant.
“I’m very thankful for the opportunity to lead this proud club alongside Doc. Personally, we are close mates, and we have a lot of respect for each other so I’m confident it will be a natural transition for us both.”
Originally published as Patrick Cripps and Sam Docherty to lead new Carlton era
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