“MY MOTIVATIONS stay the same. I still want to try and get the best out of as many people at the Club as possible, to be at our best and maximise our potential.”
While he officially went from co-captain to sole skipper on Saturday, it’s very much a case of business as usual for Patrick Cripps.
Having shared the role with great mate Sam Docherty since the end of 2018, Cripps’ approach won’t change now that he heads up a new-look, three-man leadership group with Jacob Weitering and Sam Walsh.
Speaking to Carlton Media, Cripps outlined the standards and values that he wanted to bring to the fore at IKON Park, which he believes has already been shown throughout the pre-season so far.
“Number one is you want this place to be one where people love to come to work and really enjoy it: building relationships and having that care for one another, being there [for each other],” Cripps said.
“The other is accountability on standards. Sometimes, that’s challenging others to be at their best and it’s always coming from a place of care, because we want the team to be at our best.
“That’s your craft, that’s your body, how physically fit you are because it’s your biggest tool, or it’s how you’re helping out a mate.”
Since taking on the captaincy role at the beginning of the 2019 season, Cripps has led the Blues out on 57 occasions. On all bar two of those occasions, both Walsh and Weitering have been with him.
Now, as they look to step up into the co-vice-captaincy, the 26-year-old can’t wait to see what they can offer and where they can take their leadership and their football.
“They’re superstar players, they’re great blokes and their leadership has come on in leaps and bounds,” he said.
“In terms of my role and what I’m going to do, nothing is going to change… I’ve always viewed captaincy as you either have it or you don’t.
“Personally, I’ll always do the exact same because while you’re here, it’s about maximising your time and get the best out of a group of people that share a common goal.”
For Cripps, the next step for Carlton is its depth of leadership.
Calling on arguably the greatest leader the football club has ever seen, Cripps said he wanted to emulate the best Carlton teams of years gone by.
“You talk to any great team in the past at Carlton… we had ’Sticks’ come in the other day. He said he had 10 guys in that team that could’ve been captain,” he said.
“We’ve got guys like ‘Doc’ and Ed that are still going to lead to a high level, because they’re high-quality people and they work bloody hard. You’ve got ‘Newy’, Harry and Charlie that are coming up and owning their game and giving back to others.
“You’ve even got guys like George Hewett and Adam Cerra that have come in and made a big impact already in terms of standards: they’re pros in the way they go about it.
“I feel like the group is in that 23-28 age bracket which is a good group to keep going through together. We know we’ve got a lot of hard work to go and get there.”
