FOR THE fourth time this season, Patrick Cripps has polled a perfect 10 votes from the coaches to surge to the top of the AFLCA Champion Player of the Year leaderboard.
Sitting on 45 votes after five full games, Cripps is seven votes clear of Clayton Oliver in second place.
It was no surprise that the skipper received another perfect score, with his dominant performance igniting Carlton to a big victory over North Melbourne.
Having an equal-season-high 35 disposals and a goal, Cripps sits fifth in the competition for contested possessions and centre clearances, despite effectively sitting out two games due to injury.
The Blues' backline brigade got some love from Michael Voss and David Noble, with Sam Docherty and Adam Saad each receiving four votes.
The pair were instrumental across half back when the Roos were firing, Docherty gathering 33 disposals and Saad contributing a game-high 12 intercepts.
Docherty's leadership and good decision making held the backline in good stead, especially in the second quarter when North started to get on top of the Blues, while Saad's speed and penetrative kicking saw the ground open up and gave the Carlton midfielders more opportunities.
At the other end of the ground, Carlton's star forwards in Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay received three votes each for their work in front of goal.
McKay slotted four goals as well as taking 11 marks, putting his team on the scoreboard when it mattered, and he was assisted by Curnow's three goals and eight goal assists.
Curnow and McKay now sit sixth and ninth on the Coleman leaderboard respectively, kicking 19 and 17 goals for the 2022 season.
Lewis Young rounds out the votes with two in what was arguably his best performance in Navy Blue so far.
The defender provided great intercepts in the backline: using his height to an advantage, Young was able to assist Jacob Weitering with five intercept marks, stopping a number of North Melbourne attacks.
Round 7 votes:
