DISAPPOINTED, but not discouraged. Bullish, but aware of the work required that lies ahead. 

Carlton captain Patrick Cripps was realistic about the attention currently being put on his side, and knows the only way to make the noise stop is through performance rather than words. But, particularly now, fronting the media comes with the territory.

The reigning Brownlow Medallist is aware of the team’s current plight, but is as confident as ever that fortunes will turn over the course of a “marathon” season.

After nine games, the Blues sit in ninth position with a split ledger of four wins, four losses and a draw. However, it’s after a hot start to the season - where the team went unbeaten in the opening month - that commentary has centred around Carlton’s win from its past five games. 

Speaking at a press conference on Tuesday, Cripps said he understood the disappointment and frustration of the team’s recent run, but there wasn’t much use in crystal balling about what the rest of the year may look like.

“After games you loss, you grieve — like any other supporter. We feel it just as much as anyone,” Cripps said.

“But once that wears off, you’ve got to get back to what you can control right now, because looking that far ahead doesn’t help us right now. I know everyone wants to, but it doesn’t actually help.

“We’ve got to come in, look each other in the eye, keep getting better and trusting the process — I know it’s a cliche, but it’s true. If we get this right, that’ll help us get to our end goal, which is to have a say in finals: we want to play finals.

“I’m still very bullish and I know the potential of this group and how hard we’re working in here. Things will turn.”

Carlton’s four losses since Round 4 have come against teams now sitting in the top eight, with Cripps lamenting the team’s ability to not get the job done against teams above them on the ladder after a Round 2 win over reigning premiers Geelong.

However, for Cripps, the only way to make that right is attacking the next assignment that presents itself — and this week, it’s the ladder-leading old enemy.

There’s no denying the microscope that’s on IKON Park at the moment, but for the captain, that’s part and parcel of representing the football club he’s called home for nearly a decade.

“You’ve got to acknowledge the noise: it’s not going away. You’d be silly to say it’s not there,” he said.

“They’re the pros and cons of playing for a big club. There’s going to be a lot more noise: when you’re going well, you’re getting pumped up massively and when things aren’t like you want, there’s going to be a lot of external noise coming at you.

“If you get bogged down by the external noise and let your head drop, then you’re already beaten . . . nothing is ever as good as it seems and nothing is ever as bad as it seems, we really feel that.”

While the Blues were able to nudge in front of the Bulldogs on the weekend after an inspired fightback, a late flurry from the opposition saw the team fall by 20 points.

The Blues’ good stuff was very good, particularly in the second half. However, the shortcomings which ended up costing them the win was indicative of the season so far, according to Cripps.

He said it was a tidy up in execution, rather than a shift in game style, which brought about the second-half comeback.

“If you look at the first half, we came in at half time with +11 inside 50s: the opportunities were there but not the execution, which has been the story of our year,” he said.

“We feel like the effort and intensity has been there, but it’s been finishing our plays. What I was proud of was we were five goals down but we stayed in the moment and fought our way back. The crowd had a huge play in that.

“It could’ve gone either way in the end . . . so we’ve got to learn from that.”

On the challenge that the Blues are bracing for this week, which is the toughest in football at the minute based off of numbers alone, Cripps said the Blues wouldn’t be going into their shells.

“I’m not going to stand here and say we’re in a rut.

“We’ve been beaten by some good sides and we haven’t quite clicked. The game is telling us we’re not quite there, but I feel like we’re close and that’s what I’m going to keep preaching — that we’ve got to get better.

“We’ve got some tough opponents coming up but as competitors, you want to play against the best sides. If we’re going to compete at the end of the year, these are the games you want to play.

“It’ll be a fierce contest, it’ll be on and we’re excited by that.”