IT’S ALL picking up.

Carlton’s full list of senior players have been back for a few weeks now, and it’s just a matter of days before they head off for a Sunshine Coast pre-season camp.

For Patrick Cripps, it’s now his 12th pre-season at the level - but the dual Brownlow Medallist is still finding ways to keep improving, elevate his game and get the best out of his teammates.

Speaking on SEN on Thursday morning, this is what he had to say.

On how his body is tracking:

"It’s what you use the off-season for, to iron out the kinks and get yourself moving. I actually feel really good. The body feels good, I was able to do all my off-season work and I’ve been able to punch out the pre-season so far.

"I’m at the stage in my career where you just try and perform at a high level as long as you can. I still enjoy the work. That’s an underrated tool, as you’re getting a bit older - the mindset and how much you really enjoy the grind of the work. I’m into my 12th year now, and the longer you go the pre-season doesn’t get easier so you’ve got to find a way to keep enjoying them."

On changes to this pre-season:

"There are a few differences, but in the AFL these days there are so many similarities in what clubs do. There have been a couple of little philosophy tweaks in doing a bit more speed work, but because we’ve had the same coaching group, most of the Club has had stability around it. It hasn’t really felt too different.

"Obviously Rob has come in with a couple of new ideas and I’ve really enjoyed working with him, he’s a great guy. All the high performance guys love what they do and are so passionate, they’re invested and they play a really important role in the footy club."

On Jagga Smith and the new draftees:

"Getting a few new young fellas in, that’s the best part of it. You see them and it reminds you when you were 18 coming in and you had no idea, you’re living out your dream. Jagga has been great, he’s a good kid and he works hard.

"There are a lot of other young guys who have come in and are working hard too. All they’re doing right now is training, eating and sleeping - I reckon most of them are in bed by about 6ish and forcing down a feed. It’s part of the grind."

On Jack Silvagni and the overall health of the list:

"He’s still in the rehab group, he’s starting to integrate back into training. He looks fit and high energy. A lot of the guys came back in good condition, which you always hope. You try and set a high standard as leaders to make sure the boys have done the work.

"The rehab group is pretty small at the moment, which is good, and we’ve got a lot of guys attacking their training. We head up to Queensland next week for a four-day camp. December is a month where you put the work in, but January is the month where you really crank it up. A lot of these guys in the rehab group will be back in January, and then you’ve got a four-to-six-week block to fine tune for the practice matches."

On Michael Voss' PD trip to the UK:

"He’s back, he got in on Sunday night and he was ready to roll on Monday morning. I asked if he was jet lagged, but he was chomping at the bit. He’s ready to go, he’ll be up in Queensland - he loves getting back up there. We got into him for missing the week, but he hardly had any break. It’s pretty full-on for the coaches, you’ve got the draft and trade period: this is their time where they can switch off before it all cranks up again in January."

On where the Blues will look to improve:

"There are a couple of factors. It’s part of our journey: even though we didn’t finish the way we would’ve wanted, I still feel like we made progression as a group. The way it ended was disappointing and left a lot of us frustrated, but you’ve got to take the learnings from it.

"That middle tier of guys in the 21-25 bracket, some of those started to jump and that’s where you get a lot of growth. The other is consistency and cohesion within the team, we probably had a lot of ins and outs last year, so I see that as a big factor which will help us jump to the next level. From a total Club point of view, we’ve had stability for a good three or four years and we’ve made progression with what we’ve done the year before.

"Although we didn’t finish as high last year as we did in 2023, I still feel like we progressed as a group. As you know, you can’t just say we’re going to jump and be the best team in it: that’s always the goal. But we feel like we’re making progressions and more advanced than we were the year before."

On the addition of Nick Haynes:

"He’s great. It’s always good to get a wiser mind. He feels like he’s got a lot of good footy left in him and he’s been a quality player for the Giants, in the leadership group and an All Australian. I think it’s going to be huge for someone like Weiters, another leader down there with ‘Newy’.

"You get guys like that with good experience and some calm minds, it goes a long way. He’s done all the work so far, he seems like a great guy and I think he’ll be a great fit for our backline."