Patrick Cripps | 2020 Season Review

Written by Joseph Addamo

Throughout the 2020 off-season, Blue Abroad will be providing content to cover everything you need to know about the Carlton Football Club.

After a largely improved season, we will be reviewing every player that pulled on the famous Navy Blue guernsey in 2020.

This is the Blue Abroad Player Review for Carlton’s co-captain and #9 – Patrick Cripps.

SEASON SYNOPSIS

After starting the 2020 season off with influential games – albeit in losses – against Richmond and Melbourne, it was a frustrating year at times for Patrick Cripps. It was evident he was carrying lingering injuries for much of the season, confirmed by the immediate shoulder surgery undertaken in the aftermath of the season. Regardless, often a victim of his own precedent of standards, ‘Crippa’s numbers across the season stacked up with the best of them.

Among midfielders, Cripps rated elite for contested possessions per game (11.8), contested possession rate (59.5%), clearances (5.9), contested marks (0.6) and marks inside 50 (0.6).  He also ranked above average for tackles (4.8), pressure acts (18.2), score involvements (4.9), handballs (10.7) and inside 50s (3.1). While he also ranked above average for shots at goal (1.2), his goal accuracy (33.3%) and goals (0.4) among midfielders was only rated average. It was a glaring issue in his game, especially the aspect of set shot kicking, which frustrated fans in so many moments across the season.

BEST PERFORMANCE

Even with some of the struggles Cripps endured across the season, he managed to poll 10 votes at the Brownlow Medal count. This propelled him into the top 20 for the night and was Carlton’s leading vote-getter yet again.

He kicked off his season with arguably his best game. In front of an eerie and empty MCG, the Blues found themselves as much as 50 points down in the third quarter of the game, but chipped away and cut the margin to just 16 points early in the final quarter. Cripps battled hard against a fierce Richmond midfield outfit. He finished with 31 disposals, 3 marks, 7 inside 50s, 10 clearances and 9 score involvements. The Blues fell short of the now-Grand Finalists by 24 points. Alongside co-captain Sam Docherty in his comeback game, Cripps led from the front all night, and showed why he is highly touted as one of the game’s premier midfielders.

OFF-SEASON & 2021 OUTLOOK

Locking away ‘Crippa’ is high on the list of Carlton’s priorities this off-season. While contracted until the end of 2021, the Blues would not want negotiations to linger, as Cripps faces the potential to explore free agency at the expiry of his current contract extension.

With a player of Cripps’ caliber, rumours will always circulate around his desire to return home to Western Australia. This off-season will be no exception to this rule. However, Blues supporters can take some solice in Cripps’ repeated voicing of his desire to remain at Carlton. Ryan Daniels (7 News) also reported over the past week:

He is not coming home… he wants to be at Carlton, he can see things turning, he’s the captain of the club. (The rumour’s) are all rubbish, it’s all completely false… he’s not unhappy, and won’t be seeking a move back to WA.

Carlton fans will likely have to bide their time until there is further clarity around list sizes and salary cap for next season before seeing ‘Crippa’s name signed on the dotted line.

2020 REPORT CARD RATING

C+

STATUS HEADING INTO 2021

Consistent Senior Player