Second-year Carlton midfielder Patrick Cripps has the NAB AFL Rising Star Award sewn up after another commanding best-afield performance on Sunday against Melbourne, interim Blues coach John Barker believes.
The 20-year-old wasn't troubled by the close checking of Demons midfielder Bernie Vince in the Blues' 23-point win, leading the field with 26 disposals and eight clearances.
In Barker's eyes, it was a game that confirmed what the bookmakers have predicted for much of the season – that Cripps will take out the award for this year's best young player next month.
"I would have thought so," Barker said. "Rising Star - absolutely."
"He was tagged today by one of the premium run-with players of the competition and put a nice, sizeable gap on him a few times and did a great job.
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"He's an exceptional talent. They're the sort of players that we look at for our fans and members that we need to build around, and grow that talent from underneath and provide some quality to allow us to go forward and be a good team."
Cripps became even more important in the second half after captain Marc Murphy was forced off with a dislocated shoulder.
And, he'll be relied upon even more in the coming weeks with scans on Monday likely to confirm that Murphy won't play again this year.
"He's very, very good. I don't like making too many comparisons like that from different ages but his dominance in the contest, and then we started to see a bit of burst into space today, which we haven't seen much of, but it's ominous," Barker said.
"He's got real character, resilience. Regardless of the scenario that presents, he just fights, even in marking contests.
"I don't know if I can say much more about him, my wife might start getting concerned."
One of the more pleasing parts of Sunday's win for Barker was it came with Murphy, Matthew Kreuzer (cramp) and Michael Jamison (concussion) on the bench for much of the second half.
Before Kreuzer went off, he booted three goals in his most encouraging performance since his return from a foot injury in round 10.
"After such a long time out, the game conditioning is starting to build and he's getting better and better as that grows in him," Barker said.
"He's getting that mobility back as to (what it was) before those injuries, and (it) all bodes well for him to just keep getting better going forward as he gets that conditioning."
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Kreuzer remains an out-of-contract free agency prospect but Barker said he wasn't losing sleep over whether the former No.1 draft pick would stay a Blue.
"He's a Carlton man. I don't think there's any doubts about that," he said.
"Our fans know that, our members know that, the club knows that, Matty knows that.
"He's a Carlton man."
Kreuzer and Jamison are expected to be fit to face Greater Western Sydney next Saturday while the Blues haven't given up on Levi Casboult playing again this year despite a knee injury forcing him out for the second week in a row.
