Cripps, who had an interrupted campaign through a broken leg, polled 63 votes in just 10 games, finishing 17 votes behind eventual winner, Tom Wilson.
Coupled with the injury, Cripps’ good form at VFL level saw a promotion to the Carlton lineup that was well deserved, but one which impacted his standing in the best-and-fairest count after starting the season with two high-polling performances in Rounds 1 and 5 before the injury.
After steadily building having returned from injury, Cripps’ last month of football saw him threaten Wilson’s long-standing lead through the vote count.
Sitting in sixth position after the penultimate match of the season, Cripps closed the season with a 14 vote game in the loss against Box Hill to leapfrog into the runner-up position.
Cripps said receiving the award was a big surprise having played just over half a season of VFL.
“It’s a great honour to win the award, I came here tonight not really expecting to win anything,” Cripps said.
“It’s nice to get recognised, but congratulations to Tom for winning, he thoroughly deserved it.”
On the night, Northern Blue senior coach Luke Webster said it was a terrific effort for Cripps make such an impact in his first year of senior footy.
“He got a bit of an opportunity at AFL level this year, but he’ll continue to improve,” Webster said.
“What you get from ‘Crippa’ is a really good contested player, very good in the clearances.
“He’ll continue to develop his game and get better as the years go by and I’m sure at some stage, we’ll see him in the AFL side or potentially winning the top award next year.”
Cripps said it was frustrating to miss games through injury, but credited his latter half season form with AFL exposure in the early period of the season.
“It (AFL) is a lot quicker and you don’t have as much time with the ball, but when you come back down to VFL, you try and take that experience with you,” Cripps said.
“I think when I came back, it was getting that match fitness back.
“It was good to get that game in the last round of the year as a bit of reward for effort.
“I’ll take that going ahead, and hopefully I can play a few more AFL games next year.”
