Mark Robinson: The resurgence of Carlton and the strong Michael Voss – Patrick Cripps partnership
It’s been a long time since Carlton was truly respected — and even feared. But this Blues outfit is writing its own history two months after it looked destined to finish in the bottom four. MARK ROBINSON analyses how.
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It’s a pity Patrick Cripps hasn’t had an All-Australian year as a player, for he is having an All-Australian year as a captain.
There’s a difference.
Performance is everything, but leadership is multifaceted.
The Carlton skipper, in stride with coach Michael Voss, has steered the ship through rough waters this season and, on eve of the finals, has landed in tranquil waters and potential paradise.
The Blues have won nothing yet other than respect. They lost seven of eight games from round 5-13 and have since won eight games straight.
The challenges, confusion and headbanging pursuit to turnaround the season might well be shared unfiltered if the Blues can claim the premiership.
Truth emerges in the premiers rooms.
But dark days they were. The Blues were paralysed. They couldn’t connect. And amid a ballistic backlash from fans, the club had to confront questions about the future of Voss himself.
The exact reason or moment which transformed a basket case to a strong flag contender is not exactly known.
But don’t overplay the beers and burgers at the Curnows joint in Torquay or the nudie romps in the paddock dam.
Carlton chief executive Brian Cook agreed.
“I remember when I was at Geelong, they thought Chappy (Paul Chapman) made the turnaround in round 5, ’07, when he made a few comments after the game, but I can assure you the change at Geelong was a lot more multi-layered than that,’’ Cook said. “And it’s the same at Carlton.’’
The mid-season salvation was delivered on the back of lifelong practices: Hard work, persistence and faith.
That’s why Voss and Cripps – both unrelenting competitors as players which is symbolic of the blue-collar Blues – deserve plaudits.
From those two, belief had to be discovered, harnessed and then basked in, which isn’t easy when the losses pile up.
In a nutshell, and amid the firestorm, Voss had to maintain his belief in his principles and his players, and he needed Cripps to believe in him and vice versa.
As much as the Blues now say everything was calm through the storm, we know it wasn’t.
Remarkably, the group found unity.
After round 13, the Blues were 15th and had only West Coast, North Melbourne and Hawthorn below them on the ladder.
A win on Saturday and they shore up fifth spot.
A premiership would be a stunning story. It would also be stunning leadership.
The role of the captain can be overplayed or underplayed, but it’s there to be scrutinised every week. The role of the captain and coach as one entity of leadership is rarely examined.
Cook said that through the run of defeats, he observed tremendous “respect’’ between the pair.
“Through the tougher time, they respected and supported each other,’’ Cook said.
“By that I don’t mean it was pally or arms around each other, it was being really honest with each other, making each other accountable and at the same time knowing they had 100 per cent support from each other.
“It’s not about developing an intimate relationship, it’s not that at all. It’s an endearing relationship but it also has to be a tough one and a strong one and a respectful one, which listens to each other’s opinions.
“Vossy can take criticism, he can take feedback of a negative nature so to speak, but also he loves it positive.
“What I saw between those two was honesty and respect more than anything else, an openness.’’
The symbolism which three-time Lions premiership player Jonathan Brown sees is of a coach and captain on the “same page’’ and the similarities between Voss and Cripps as players.
“They’re competitors,’’ Brown said. “Vossy was a talker but he was also action-based, Crippa is quieter but he’s also action-based.
“Crippa wasn’t playing great footy either, but he’s worked his way out of it and is playing great footy. That’s leadership.’’
The Blues are action-based. They’ve beaten Melbourne, St Kilda, Collingwood and Port Adelaide in four of their past five games.
It’s not ruthless footy per se. It’s simply a preparedness to run, pressure and to exhaust themselves, and to go again and again. And if you don’t do it you don’t play. It’s relentless footy which again personifies the coach and the captain.
“There’s no doubt Vossy’s footy principles haven’t changed much between playing and coaching, contest hard, defence first, that’s how the team played,’’ Cook said. “I see a great consistency there.
“‘Crippa loves the term, and has developed it in our playing group, around ‘blue-collar’.
“Blue-collar work ethic, blue-collar contest, blue-collar appearance. It’s a bit of mandate the players have taken up.
“Crippa’s a doer, and to me that’s pretty important. What he says and what he does are the same things and I think he gets a lot of respect by doing what he preaches.
“You don’t have to be the dux orator in my opinion to be the captain of a footy club. But what he does do, is he represents his players very well to the coach, but also represents the coaches really well to the players.’’
Hawthorn premiership captain Luke Hodge says the Voss/Cripps relationship is underscored by resilience.
He recalls the criticism from commentators, the vitriol from fans, the board spat, the run on Voss and was reminded of Voss the player.
“He was someone who didn’t take a backward step and I think we’re seeing that as a coach,” Hodge said.
“He didn’t back away. He may have said we’re not where we think we were, but he wasn’t putting blame on anyone.
“He had faith in the game style, he had faith in the players.
“Not a lot has changed. They’ve lost a couple of senior players from their side, and they haven’t panicked.
“I think they actually almost look better without some big names in there. The ball movement going forward, they’re just not bombing into McKay and Curnow, they have to think their way through.
“So, I look at Voss and think about resilience.
“I’ve known Patty Cripps for a long time and I know he us a resilient bloke, too.
‘‘When injured, he probably shouldn’t have played some of the games in the past three years, and you know if you’re led by a bloke like Voss and captain like Cripps, who will do everything they can, it’s a good starting block to build off.’’
You generally win, or lose and learn, and Hodge says the Blues have learnt from last season’s bomb outs against Brisbane (33 points, round 21), Melbourne (five points, round 22) and Collingwood (one point, round 23).
“They dropped away, they panicked late in games, and when it went pear-shaped early in the season, they learned from the mistakes last year,” Hodge said.
“You just don’t panic. It comes down to self-belief you have. What you feel, and what the rest of the guys feel is the right way to go forward. You need resilient blokes to look past the media raps, the supporters coming at you and the board upheaval.
“Sam Mitchell is a prime example. No one thought what he was doing was right, but he believed in the fact that ‘this is how we want to play, this is the group I’ve got, and we’re going to have ups and downs, but this the way we’re going to play’.
“They got roasted after the first couple of weeks as an absolute disgrace, but he didn’t go away from the plan.
“So, as soon as there starts to be doubts in the plan, doubt in the players and doubt in the coaching staff … then you don’t get this fightback (at Carlton).”
Coaches can be called stubborn, even arrogant, when they stick to game plans which aren’t working. And Voss had a large quantity of free advice if he wanted it.
“Some people use the word arrogance, but it’s confidence,’’ Hodge said.
“Arrogance is when you don’t listen to anyone, confidence is when you listen to people and then ultimately make a decision in the way you want to go forward
“And Vossy clearly has got a lot of confidence in his players and game style because when all the shit was coming at him, he didn’t shy away from it. He may have tweaked a few things in the game style but all good coaches do that.’’
In Cripps and Voss, he also sees symbolism of how the Blues play.
The Blue aren’t the ruthless “unsociable Hawks”, but they have an edge. It wasn’t prevalent through the early and midwinter.
“My first concerns were, did this team have the confidence to step over the line a little bit?” Hodge said. “Name the last nice team to win a premiership?
“That Carlton-Collingwood game on the Friday night, when Owies was getting stuck into them, Jack Martin was physical, all the fringe-type players, they had belief, they’ve got mongrel in them.
“I don’t think you can be the ‘unsociable Hawks’ anymore because you can’t give away 60 free kicks in a game.
“We had to be the unsociable Hawks because no one respected us. Remember the article headlined the Mummy boys. It had all our blonde-haired boys, and Alastair Clarkson came in and said we had to change the image.
“I don’t think Carlton had as bad an image as us, but no one respected them. They had no respect for a long time. And they fell over last year.
“But it’s changed this year, even before they started the streak of eight. Moving the ball had changed a little bit and now the fans have faith. They know the brand their team is playing is not fairy style, it’s a tougher, physical, pressure forward line.’’
He argued that the Blues look better without Harry McKay, who returns on Saturday, because Carlton is about contest, run and ground ball pressure.
“That’s not anything against McKay, it’s more the fact he’s a tall bloke and they blaze away, and they don’t build up the ball and put pressure on the ball when it goes inside 50,’’ Hodge said.
“With small forwards, they lead up, push back and have more pressure when it hits the deck.
“Who does that remind you of? Richmond. They were successful because they had workhorses who were willing to work up and work back.
“That’s what football has become, it’s about team and who is happy to work their arse off and move the ball quickly and pressure.’’
Cripps won’t be the All Australian captain this year, but in seven weeks time he could be the premiership captain.
And what an incredible story that would be.
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