Another stellar performance from Patrick Cripps hasn’t gone unnoticed, with the Carlton young gun receiving his second perfect 10 in the 2015 AFLCA Champion Player of the Year Award.
Cripps recorded an equal game-high 26 disposals and kicked the match-winning goal against Melbourne, earning maximum votes from Blues coach John Barker and his Demons counterpart Paul Roos.
He also recorded eight clearances and 16 contested possessions, shouldering the load in the midfield with aplomb after captain Marc Murphy was subbed off in the third quarter with a shoulder injury.
Patrick Cripps' average of 130 #SuperCoach points in wins ranks him No.1 in the AFL among all midfielders. @CarltonFC
— Fantasy Freako (@FantasyFreako) August 25, 2015
In his post-game press conference, Barker said the 20-year-old’s performance was further validation that he was deserving of the Rising Star award.
"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 (Bernie Vince) and put a nice, sizeable gap on him a few times and did a great job.
"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’ second perfect 10 – the other coming against Port Adelaide in Round 12 – takes his season tally to 39 votes.
CARLTON V MELBOURNE COACHES' VOTES:
10 Cripps (Carl)
8 Kreuzer (Carl)
6 McDonald (Melb)
4 Tuohy (Carl)
2 Walker (Carl)