Special feature: Patrick Cripps opens up on trying times at Carlton and the light at the end of the tunnel
Patrick Cripps was at a low point before producing the best game of his career as Carlton stormed over premiership contender Brisbane Lions. It marked the start of an inspired run under David Teague which his the skipper convinced the tide has turned.
Around the club, at the café with his teammates or on the field, Cripps’ chin was always up.
But in the week Brendon Bolton was sacked and replaced by new coach David Teague — in the lead-up to the Round 12 clash against Brisbane — it finally got to him.
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The Blues’ superstar onballer and co-captain walked into the club on Thursday unsure he could play, and was slumped on his manager Matt Bain’s couch by Friday night, feeling totally, utterly exhausted.
“I was knackered. Just physically and mentally cooked,” Cripps said.
“By the end of the week, I didn’t know whether I was going to be able to play, to be honest. I was just that zapped.
“I got to the point where I was just like, ‘Far out, we’ve had so many tough times throughout my career already’.
“I just thought to myself ‘Is this, ever, going to turn?’
“It was the physical toll, and the mental toll over a number of years of not getting the results that you want. From trying to lead the group, and trying to play well.
“And on the Thursday of that game I remember talking to (fitness chief) Andrew Russell and I said to him, ‘Look mate, I’m nowhere’. I’m drained’.”
But the Northampton bull, who has had four different coaches in six seasons yet risen to become one of the top few players in the game, found something, somehow.
Something really special, in fact.
Lifting his team up on his shoulders once more, the powerhouse prime mover ran riot from the midfield, securing the most guaranteed three Brownlow votes of the season as the Blues pulled off a spirited comeback victory.
There was even a little finger wiggle after the 24-year-old dodged two opponents on a run inside 50m and banged home his fourth goal from 40m.
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It all started, Cripps said, the moment he walked into the Marvel Stadium change rooms.
“I made sure the moment I walked into the rooms that day of the game that I was going to have a fair bit of energy,” Cripps said.
“So I remember walking in and looking at ‘Jack’ (Russell) and I gave him a bit of a wink, and I said ‘don’t worry, I’m back’.
“So, on one hand, it was the toughest game I’ve had to play in my life, because I really battled to get up, emotionally as much as anything.
“But it was so much fun that day. It was probably the happiest I have been after a game, I was just so relieved, and to see everyone even just even smile again.
“It was probably one of the best moments I’ve had in my career, and probably the best game I have played.”
But he also felt for Bolton, whose four-year journey came to an abrupt end on the Monday following a dour loss to Essendon.
Bain said Cripps and Bolton were close.
“I think that’s what made that week really difficult in one sense, because he loved Bolts,” Bain said.
“But the night before the game we talked about just focusing on what he could control.
“And when he walked into the club, having that energy and being upbeat.”
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What also happened that day was the dark clouds parted somewhat above a club which has been anchored to the bottom for far too long.
But now, under Teague, there is blue sky. The real kind.
We can tell because of the transformation at Carlton on and off the field over the past nine games since the coach switch.
Cripps, who will play his 100th game today against St Kilda at the MCG, said the feeling at the club has changed over the past five weeks.
“It has turned,” Cripps said.
“There is a real enjoyment factor, and I have got a love for footy back again.
“On game day, I just love playing because we are playing a really fun brand of footy again. We know what we are going to get from everyone.
“It’s just, really, really enjoyable.
“These last five weeks, it’s the most … well, guys are coming to the club early and they want to be around here because it’s a fun place to be.
“And you look at the best teams, Richmond and West Coast, they just look so happy. You can see even when they’re warming up they’re really happy teams.”
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Now, Carlton’s midfield man-mountain, and the son of a Western Australian wheat, sheep and canola farmer, will enter the sweet spot of his career confidently believing the Blues will climb the ladder from next season, if they work hard enough for it.
And few have toiled harder at Ikon Park, or showed more steadfast belief, than the skipper.
“Growing up on a farm, I think that help teaches you to be resilient. It’s a bloody tough job,” he said.
“In terms of that resilience, I thank my parents. Dad always said you never get anywhere without hard work and that’s what I have always believed in.
“Sometimes you think there’s probably only a certain amount of losses you can take, and your mind does goes there, sometimes, definitely.
“You know, what am I doing? Is this going to be worth it?
“I have moved away from home, I have been here six years now, but that is just the emotion taking over after a game.
“So, then you reset and you think about all the young guys we have got in. The bond we have.
“I always said, ‘If you can build something from the bottom up its going to be bloody special, and the reason I signed last year, I want to help create that here.
“It’s a massive club, it’s a big four club which has been starved of success. Now it has turned, I know it’s going to be pretty special.
“This place is going to erupt, I can feel it.”
CRIPPS: SKY’S THE LIMIT FOR GOV
Patrick Cripps believes the sky is the limit for Mitch McGovern.
But to realise his full football potential, McGovern had to focus on “building good habits off the field” regarding his conditioning and diet.
Cripps, who also had to trim down when he first arrived at Carlton, said he had a frank discussion with McGovern when they sat down with new coach David Teague and fitness boss Andrew Russell about six weeks ago.
“I said, ‘Mate I have been where you are at’, and it wasn’t as public as him,” Cripps said.
“But my whole career was set up on the back of my first off-season at the club where I just got really strict on my diet and my training.
“So we had a really good chat with him, it was really honest about where we see things.
“We said ‘We have got your back, we know how good you are going to be, but these are the standards we are setting at the club’.”
Cripps said McGovern’s attitude and performance throughout a month-long training block with Russell was exemplary.
The former Adelaide forward revealed a new trimmed-down figure last weekend against Richmond.
“He just had to get his body in really good nick to be able to do what he can do more consistently,” Cripps said.
“With his aerial ability and his explosiveness, not many people can do what he can do.
“The way he has attacked it head on, and the way he played at the weekend was super. He is going to be a special player, McGovern.”
BLUES TO USE WEAPONS
Carlton is trying to maximise its scoring weapons in attack under new coach Teague.
Cripps said a big part of Teague’s coaching plan was to play quickly, and instinctively.
“Look at our forward line. We have got some exciting forwards down there, and we want to get the ball down to them quickly,” Cripps said.
“So we want to play the ground bigger, and wider, and use that space, and back ourselves in, and play on instinct.
“We want to showcase their (forwards’) flair and strengths.
“It is exciting, because I think we can be scary next year.”
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Originally published as Special feature: Patrick Cripps opens up on trying times at Carlton and the light at the end of the tunnel