CARLTON captain Patrick Cripps is feeling confident ahead of the season after his side faced St Kilda in a match simulation on Saturday.
While the outing was soured with the news that Jagga Smith had torn his ACL, Cripps said the Club was rallying around the 18-year-old and will still look to take plenty of positives into the 2025 season.
Here's what he had to say.
On Jagga Smith:
"I obviously felt for him, it’s not the call you want on a Sunday. Firstly, if you take the Club out of it, I just feel for him, an 18-year-old kid who has worked so hard and so close to debuting, I feel for him.
"I had a good chat with him yesterday but it’s probably one of those moments where you have to absorb how you feel and not try and suppress it and take it all in. There will come a time when he gets surgery, gets back to work and the special thing about footy clubs is that there are a lot of people in your corner to build you back up.
"He’ll play a lot of footy for this Club, so it will be a small speed bump in the journey of his career, but he’ll be a special player for us for a long time."
On the reaction from the team:
"I haven’t seen the boys since, but my initial thoughts were I was flat for him but also flat for us: he’s a quality player that you know is going to help us be a better side.
"It is disappointing for that but that’s footy and life: things never go to plan, so it's how as a group we can bounce back and focus on the next process of it all.
"We’ve got a scratch match this week against the Giants and we’ve got a lot of talent on our list to fill roles. Obviously we’d rather have him out there but we know there is a long year ahead now."
On the external expectations of Carlton:
"That's always going to be the conversation all year, a rolling narrative. It’s a marathon, and our big focus is to be consistent.
"There are going to be times this year where we get on a roll, win four or five games in a row, there’s going to be times where we lose two in a row, I just want to see how we respond and how we keep the momentum and build good habits.
"If we do that, we know we’ll try and qualify as high as we can. When it gets to finals, that’s where the real stuff starts. That’s where my mindset is, and I’ve played long enough now to realise that’s how you have to view it."
On Charlie Curnow:
"Big Charlie, before he had the screw out he hadn’t done much pre-season, but kicked three goals in 10 minutes: he’s a freak. I’m not sure if he’ll be there Round 1, but he’s in pretty good spirits at the moment.
"We’ll get him back pretty early, but I’m confident he’ll have a big year. He’s one guy that doesn’t need a lot of training to perform, he’s a bit of a freak.
"It’ll be good to have him back. I know there’s a lot of guys that could step into that role but sometimes there’s a different look down there and I definitely would rather have him down there."
On talk around Tom De Koning:
"It’s a big life decision for these guys and it’s going to be a big contract for him. I’ve been through the same process myself so you just support him and say take as much time as you want and he knows that.
"All I know deep down is that a lot of us have played a lot of football together, and when you do that, you build great relationships and you love the Club. I know he feels the same way and when the time is right, he’ll make the decision, but he knows how much we value him and how much we think he’s an important player to us long term."
First AFL hitout + first VFL hitout + first goal in Navy Blue + first goal for the @CarltonReserves = all in a day's work for Lucas Camporeale!
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) February 22, 2025
And with the family in attendance after driving down from Adelaide, it's no surprise why you couldn't wipe the smile of his face 💙
On the potential of a State of Origin competition:
"I would 100 per cent play. You’re going to be playing games anyway, so any time you train, you’re at risk. I think if you were ever going to have time to do it, it would be now because you’re playing a lot of intra-clubs or pre-season matches.
"Just from watching the All-Star game, I thought the atmosphere was unbelievable. I think it gives the players a chance to play for their state, which they don’t get a chance to do. I think it gives players the chance to mingle with guys you might’ve grown up with or don’t know too well.
"With some of the rep footy when you grow up, they’re some of the best weeks you have in your career, so to step out of club-land and mix with some other guys and play for your state would be pretty cool."
