Patrick Cripps needs more help in Carlton midfield as St Kilda run Blues off their feet in big win
Carlton captain Patrick Cripps is a superstar — but he can’t do it all. The reality is he needs more help and until he gets it, the Blues might struggle to rise up the ladder as evidenced by St Kilda’s big win.
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Patrick Cripps probably owns the biggest set of shoulders in the AFL.
But if Carlton is to ever break back into the eight, the No.9 can’t carry them forever.
It’s why the Blues courted Dylan Shiel on a luxury private jet to Noosa at the end of 2018 and then hunted Greater Western Sydney Giants captain Stephen Coniglio last year.
The big fella desperately needs a strong-bodied clearance-winning co-pilot.
St Kilda hard nut Jack Steele did the job on Cripps on Thursday night, keeping him to only five first-half touches in the 18-point win at Marvel Stadium.
Cripps was sent forward in the third and worked his way back into the game, kicking a brilliant goal on his left after slicing through a clearance in the last term.
But it was no surprise that when Cripps, 25, was shut out, Carlton racked up a season-low 33 inside 50s.
And the man who was a popular pick for Brownlow Medal at the start of the season and remains a second favourite hasn’t had things all his own way five games into 2020.
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Coach David Teague said Cripps, who was beaten by Steele on Thursday night, had otherwise showcased a more selfless side of his game this year.
While he wasn’t racking up the same massive numbers, Teague said Cripps was creating more room and opportunity for his teammates to win the ball instead of him this season.
Carlton can’t be, Teague said, a one-man band.
“It’s an interesting one,” Teague said.
“He probably hasn’t been at the level he would love to be at (this year).
“But there’s a couple of games we have loved the role he has played for us.
“If you count possessions he was probably down, but it is a balancing act between being really effective for the team.
“I thought he got us going early against Geelong. His Richmond game was pretty strong, so he’s had a couple of good games.
“Last weekend he created a bit of space for other mids, like David Cuningham got the ball and I thought that was really selfless.
“I think that is when we are at our best – when we can do that.”
Cripps has 10 AFLCA votes from five games, 21 behind leader Lachie Neale before this round.
Teague said Cripps is the one who helps make the calls about who the Carlton ruckman targets with the tap at each clearance.
And when the opposition is wearing Cripps close, there is a significant opportunity for Will Stetterfield, Jack Martin, Sam Wash, Ed Curnow and Marc Murphy to step up.
But the man who ranks third for stoppage wins at Carlton, Curnow, is 30, and the man who is fifth, Murphy, is 32.
Those batons will soon have to be handed over.
Cripps needs help from the young playmakers around him.
“There were a couple of examples last week when someone was coming to him (Cripps), he would go to someone else, to free up a guy (teammate),” Teague said.
“So when that happens, we want the ball to go to the free guy. We don’t want the ball to go to (an outnumbered) Cripps.
“But if it does go there we know he will compete.
“I think the really good teams, they make the best out of their teammates, and I think Patrick has added that to his game, in the way he is making his teammates around him better.”
Cripps finished second in the league for clearances last season and added another four on Thursday night, despite spending a big chunk of the second half forward.
The loss means Carlton enter the next phase of the fixture outside the eight at 2-3.
In attack, the tall forwards failed to fire as Levi Casboult, Harry McKay and Mitch McGovern all failed to kick a goal between them.
But Teague said he won’t scrap the three-pronged set up yet.
What annoyed him the most about the loss to the Saints on Thursday night was the inefficiency.
“That was the thing that frustrated me the most. Once we got back in to the game, (it was) our ball use (which was the let down),” he said.
“Then we did get it in there quite often we had two guys flying.
“They had been really good, particularly the Geelong game, keeping separated and not jumping into each other.
“There were times when the decision-making wasn’t as sharp as it could have been.”
Blues great Mark Maclure has unleashed on the performance of big-name recruit Mitch McGovern.
McGovern was secured from the Crows for the 2019 season but Maclure says he’s underdelivered.
“He never gets any more than five or six possessions but they keep playing him because he gives you a flash, he’s like a flash in the pan guy and I don’t want that,” he said on ABC Grandstand.
“I want a bloke who puts in 100 minutes. I think they should put him in a position on the wing or at centre half back and pick a partner for him to play on and say ‘Listen, you gotta beat him, or we don’t want you anymore’.
“I know they’re paying him a lot of money, but to me it’s just gone too far that he just sits around and doesn’t get any possessions at all, floats about.
“I don’t see him do any tackling, he doesn’t shepherd for anyone. If you can’t do any of those things, what are you doing?”
SAINTS NOW A BOX OFFICE SMASH
It has been a while since St Kilda has been a must-watch football team.
If anything, they’ve been one-paced and vanilla in recent years.
But these new-look Saints have a new razor-sharp edge.
A willingness to play on, go quick through the middle, and as we saw on Thursday night, take big clunking marks inside forward 50m.
They might have been dudded for prime-time games in the first version of this year’s fixture, but after five games in 2020, they’ve all of a sudden become box office.
St Kilda ran the Blues off their feet in the 18-point win to climb higher inside the eight, only one week after punching a hole in Richmond’s premiership confidence.
If the club was at a low point parting ways with former coach Alan Richardson and favourite son Josh Bruce late last season, there’s wind in the sails again.
FIT FOR A KING
It was one of the most contentious draft picks in recent years.
But the decision to select Max King at pick four over Connor Rozee wouldn’t be worrying many Saints at the moment.
Few men can move at 202cm like the man nicknamed ‘Winx’ who wears Nick Riewoldt’s No. 12.
Jacob Weitering has been one of the best defenders in the competition but King was on top early, pulling in a pair of big marks for two first half goals.
But how nimble was the big man when he casually and cleverly snapped a little pass to Dan Butler from the pocket into the goalsquare to build a five-goal lead in the third-term.
St Kilda took 16 marks inside 50m for the night, well above the league average of 11.
SHARP SHOT
Jack Billings’ goal kicking has been a mystery.
For a silky playmaker, his accuracy has been strangely well down, but we saw his true class in a key moment on Thursday night.
Carlton stole all the momentum midway through the third term when Will Setterfield snagged two majors to challenge the Saints for the first time of the night.
Jack Martin set up the second when he laid a heavy bump on Jarryn Geary and won a hard ball on a desperate second effort to continue his excellent season.
It clawed the Blues back to within three goals, but Billings stepped up with a clutch set shot from 40m on a tight angle near the boundary line to snuff out the charge.
Utility Ben Long continued to flourish in his new defensive role, taking one of the marks of the year with a huge leap towards a high ball on the flank earlier in the third.
Ben Long WHAT A BEAUTY! #AFLBlueSaints pic.twitter.com/4Eoprdx1KX
— 7AFL (@7AFL) July 2, 2020
GONE MISSING
We’ve been talking a lot about the Blues’ big forwards but Levi Casboult and Harry McKay went goalless.
Callum Wilkie had a big night in a key defensive role helping dominate the aerial battle, while Nick Coffield had one of his best games from a back flank.
Jack Steele won his battle against Patrick Cripps in the midfield until Cripps started to have some influence forward after half time.
CARLTON 1.1 2.4 5.6 8.7 (55)
ST KILDA 4.3 7.4 9.5 11.7 (73)
GOALS
Carlton: Setterfield 2, Betts, Philp, Martin, Cripps, Gibbons, Newnes
St Kilda: Geary 2, King 2, Butler 2, Battle, Gresham, Billings, Membrey, Kent
Carlton: Marshall, Steele, Coffield, Billings, Wilkie, Geary
St Kilda: Martin, Jones, Simpson, Cripps, Setterfield
BEST
3 Rowan Marshall
2 Jack Steele
1 Nick Coffield
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‘One way traffic’: Blues’ horror start on the big stage
Dan Batten
Carlton’s poor starts have come back to haunt them on the big stage, struggling to fire a shot in their Thursday night blockbuster clash against St Kilda.
The in-form Blues, coming off two tight wins on the trot, were moved into the timeslot earlier in the week following the postponement of the original West Coast and Richmond match-up.
St Kilda have run rampant against a hapless Blues side who have failed to turn up yet again, booting seven of the first eight goals and leading in almost every statistical indicator to halftime.
The Blues have lacked intent, missing tackles and regularly being beaten to the football by the hungry Saints midfield.
“It’s one way traffic at the moment,” Channel 7 commentator Bruce McAvaney said.
St Kilda’s pressure in comparison has been immense, laying three more tackles despite tallying 37 more disposals than the Blues to halftime.
At one stage early in the second quarter the Saints had taken 11 marks inside 50 to Carlton’s three.
Saints coach Brett Ratten’s decision to lock down on stars Sam Docherty and Patrick Cripps has paid dividends with skipper Jarryn Geary and stopper Jack Steele quelling their influence on the contest.
Geary kept Docherty honest while limiting his impact, booting two first quarter goals to kickstart the Saints.
Docherty was best on ground for the Blues last week in their nailbiting win over Essendon in Round 4.
Cripps has let his frustration get the better of him, giving away three free kicks in a quiet five disposal first half, including an undisciplined downfield free kick on the wing for a late bump.
The Blues co-captain was moved up forward during the second term.
A late goal from Blues youngster Sam Philp helped stem the bleeding and has helped them stay in the contest.
“Danger, danger, danger… Butler, Butler, BUTLER!
— 7AFL (@7AFL) July 2, 2020
Saints playing electric footy âš¡ï¸#AFLBluesSaints pic.twitter.com/GQYJo8vOb7
Originally published as Patrick Cripps needs more help in Carlton midfield as St Kilda run Blues off their feet in big win