‘Cherry ripe’ gun proves Blues are ready to stun AFL; big shift in Tigers coach race: Talking Pts

Patrick Cripps is on the brink of snapping his unwanted decade-long AFL record – thanks to a key Carlton change.

Plus the Richmond coaching race heats up, a Collingwood problem being solved from the outside and much more.

The big issues from Round 22 of the 2023 AFL season analysed in Talking Points!

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CRUCIAL CRIPPS ‘SHIFT’ PROVES HOW FAR FINALS-BOUND BLUES HAVE COME

It’s wild to consider Blues skipper Patrick Cripps has never played in a final, such has been the Brownlow medallist, three-time All-Australian and four-time best and fairest winner’s enormous contribution across 10 seasons.

But that looks all but certain to end this year, with the Blues seemingly set to feature in September for the first time since 2013 amid a scintillating AFL-best eight-game winning streak, currently sitting fifth on the ladder.

Over that stretch, the Blues have taken the huge scalps of Port Adelaide, Collingwood, and on the weekend, Melbourne, to show that they’re very much the real deal and a genuine threat in the finals.

It’s a remarkable turnaround after Carlton looked dead and buried earlier this season, having suffered a six-game losing streak to sit as low as 15th as pressure was heaped on coach Michael Voss and other higher powers at the club.

It’s also incredible given the club is currently missing the likes of Sam Walsh, Adam Cerra, Harry McKay, Matt Kennedy, Jack Silvagni and Mitch McGovern through injury.

Well, not only have they pushed back into the finals mix, Blues fans will be daring to dream about what their club could do this September, even though it’ll need to happen from outside the top four.

Cripps has been crucial to the resurgence including a big performance in the team’s pulsating win over the Demons, finishing with 29 disposals, 10 contested, nine tackles and a goal.

“He’s actually got a spring in his step. Sometimes when Carlton weren’t winning and (critics) were going: ‘He’s looking a bit slow.’ But he’s running on top of the ground,” former Hawthorn sharpshooter Ben Dixon said of Cripps on Fox Footy.

A cherry ripe Cripps can now smell finals for the first time in his career, and looking around, would have full trust in his teammates, which might not have been the case in years gone by.

For too long in Carlton’s recent history, it’s been Cripps or bust, with the star midfielder carrying a huge load. You can still picture him smashing through packs with his shoulders taped up and two or three opponents hanging off him.

It meant come the latter stages of the season, he was banged up or generally cooked otherwise.

And so the emergence of so many more Blues has had two key effects.

For one, it’s clearly generally made Carlton a more balanced and better side, and two, it’s crucially taken that physical burden off the 29-year old Cripps and helped keep him fresh.

In fact, Cripps slightly dropping off from his epic Brownlow heights from last year is arguably a good sign for Voss’ side, as it shows it’s getting more buy in elsewhere.

Those bigger contributions extend to beyond the midfield, where the likes of Cerra and George Hewett have provided huge boosts, but even names like Blake Acres, Matt Cottrell and Brodie Kemp have filled key roles in other areas.

This team approach is exemplified by how the likes of Paddy Dow, Lachie Fogarty, Zac Fisher and Caleb Marchbank, who were out of favour earlier this year, can come back into the side amid injuries and plug holes with seamless ramifications on the team’s form.

Indeed, this Blues outfit is a well-oiled machine, with Cripps still central to everything.

“He’s played sore in the past, no doubt. With the brutality he played the game at, he needed others to step up in the middle of the ground,” Western Bulldogs legend Brad Johnson noted of Cripps.

“Hewett is doing that at the moment and taking a lot of pressure off – and others will when they come back in.

“At this part of the year, in years gone by, he was done, his season was like: ‘Get me to the end, I need to go and have a spell.’

“He’s running on top of the ground with two rounds to go. That shift in the way he plays has been important, but others around (him) taking some of that load as well.”

Carlton and Adelaide legend Eddie Betts also pointed out how Cripps has been enabled to change the way he plays in a reflection of how far the Blues have come.

“He doesn’t have to do it all like the old days when Patrick Cripps was playing in that midfield and he wanted to put the club on his shoulders and do everything,” Betts observed.

“Now he can just sit back and get (more) outside ball, he doesn’t have to worry about being that big bull inside, it’s good for the football club.”

TIGERS RACE HEATS UP AS KEY CANDIDATE PULLS OUT

Richmond’s coaching race will heat up in earnest this week, with the club narrowing the search for Damien Hardwick’s replacement down to a handful of candidates.

Those still in the mix have been informed, with caretaker coach Andrew McQualter among those to progress to the next stage.

A key figure in the search was set to be Josh Carr, but the highly-rated assistant coach decided this weekend he would not be part of the next stage of interviews for the Tigers.

Instead, Carr has opted to remain with Port Adelaide, having just settled back in the state with his wife and four children.

He would also want to see what the future holds, with many regarding him as the clear successor to Ken Hinkley whenever it is the veteran coach departs the Power.

Carr’s playing retirement in 2010 was immediately followed by an assistant stint at the Power, backed up by a premiership-winning stint at North Adelaide, an influential tenure at Fremantle and then a move back to the Power.

Retaining him is a significant win for Port Adelaide in its planning for the future, not to mention Carr’s importance to the side currently as it gears up for another finals campaign.

Tigers CEO Brendon Gale has been adamant the club wants to find “the next Damien Hardwick” and the selection panel appears keen on those who have coached their own team at some level in the past – much like Craig McRae did for Richmond’s VFL side before his appointment as Collingwood coach.

McQualter clearly fits that description, as do the likes of Hayden Skipworth at Collingwood, Chris Newman at Hawthorn, Steven King at Gold Coast and Daniel Giansiracusa at Essendon.

Plenty of figures in the AFL industry can vouch for the calibre of those vying for the job.

Western Bulldogs games record holder Brad Johnson spent much of his playing career alongside Giansiracusa and vouched for the Essendon assistant coach.

“He’s been through the process a couple of times just for experience more than anything, just to understand how it all works,” Johnson said on Fox Footy.

“He’s coached his own team, he’s ready to go.

“Out of all these guys here, he stacks up really highly amongst those. He would be a great appointment and one that would be able to take a club forward.

“He’s got that serious approach, no question, but he can also bring the group in and have a bit of fun. The great mix that Gia would bring would be outstanding for any footy club.”

That mix will be a crucial factor in the Tigers’ search, with emotional intelligence ranking high on the club’s criteria.

Such a focus makes sense. After all, it was Hardwick’s willingness to embrace vulnerability and imperfection – also led by then-skipper Trent Cotchin – that saw a struggling side turn into one of the modern era’s most fearsome powerhouses.

The next phase of the Richmond coaching search will begin this week and is expected to end by grand final day.

It will mark a fascinating process that coincides with eight clubs’ fight for the premiership.

‘CAN’T STOP SEEING IT’: PROBLEM PIES ‘AREN’T ADDRESSING’… AND STAR RECRUITS ARE COVERING

Collingwood might’ve rediscovered its pressure DNA on Friday night, but there’s a lingering problem it needs to address before a flag contender genuinely exposes it.

Geelong shot out to a 22-point lead early in the first quarter before the Magpies assumed control of the contest in the second term, reverting to some of the scintillating footy that has come to define their 2023 campaign so far.

Magpies coach Craig McRae post-match said his side “re-established we’re one of the best pressure teams in the comp” and had “steered the ship somewhat”.

But for dual premiership Kangaroo David King, the Pies need to “open their eyes” and address a problem that could cause them problem in September.

Speaking on Fox Footy at half-time of Friday night’s match, King said the Pies were being humbled in the middle of the ground, adding some of the team’s best players were “just going through the motions” at clearance.

King said he was particularly concerned about veteran Scott Pendlebury’s lack of pace at centre bounces, with the likes of Patrick Dangerfield, Tom Atkins and Tanner Bruhn able to steam pass Pendlebury and win clearances.

“It’s obvious for all to see. Once you start seeing it, you can’t stop seeing it,” King said of Pendlebury on Fox Footy. “We’re not denigrating the player, but there’s other roles he can play.

“He’s toe-to-toe here (with Bruhn) and in a heartbeat it’s just that gap … a two-metre separation. That’s when you get the power from clearance and you hand the keys to the opposition.

“They’ve got a problem in there that at the moment they’re not addressing.”

Hawthorn legend Jason Dunstall added: “You take (Jordan) De Goey out of it for the moment – he’s the only one with a bit of athleticism really – Pendlebury is slow and then you look at (Tom) Mitchell and (Taylor) Adams in there as well … without Nick Daicos you need them firing.”

Despite Collingwood’s win, the Cats won the clearance count by +8, while five of their six first-quarter goals came from stoppages. Dangerfield (9 clearances), Atkins (8) and Bruhn (7) dominated, while no Magpie had more than five clearances.

In their shock loss to Hawthorn six days prior, the Magpies lost the centre clearance count 3-18.

King said if the Magpies were playing against an even stronger midfield like Melbourne’s on-ball brigade on Friday night, they mightn’t have left the MCG with a win.

“I feel like Collingwood won in spite of their midfield tonight being dominated. Their half-back line and their backs, undermanned, just played counterpunch footy with brilliance all night,” he said.

It’s why King lauded the performances of some of Collingwood’s trade acquisitions.

Eight of Bobby Hill’s 16 disposals led to Magpies scores, while Oleg Markov had 16 touches, seven intercepts and six score involvements. Dan McStay kicked 2.1, Tom Mitchell had 24 touches from a team-high 16 contested possessions and Billy Frampton was excellent after being moved into defence following Darcy Moore’s injury.

“I think they’ve had some big wins with their off-season acquisitions,” King said. “Markov was terrific particularly during that first half, Frampton is going to be soritical and Bobby Hill changes this team … his speed is critical to what they do in the front half.”

Pies star Jeremy Howe said Markov, Hill and teammate Beau McCreery bring much-needed pace and energy to the team.

“Clearly you need speed at both ends of the ground,” Howe told Fox Footy post-game.

“Since Oleg’s come in, he breaks the line for us and brings that offensive drive to get it off the line and get defences out the back, which is really pleasing.

“Once the ball’s in there, I mean I’ve played a whole summer on Beau McCreery and Bobby Hill and it’s pretty average being a defender knowing they’re hunting and nipping at your heels. It’s a nice problem to have with those guys in your forward line, because they apply plenty of pressure.”

GRUNDY-GAWN DILEMMA REARS HEAD AGAIN

Brodie Grundy returned to the senior side for the first time since round 17, but nothing seems to have changed; He is a ruck being asked to play forward and struggling to make the shift.

Grundy’s time in the VFL has resulted in middling returns on the scoreboard and more ruck time than we were led to believe when he was sent back there to work on his forward craft.

Slippery conditions didn’t help Grundy and nor did a lack of inside 50 opportunities in the first half, but his final tally of nine disposals and two score involvements were not what the Dees nor Grundy would’ve hoped for.

Dees skipper Max Gawn has been steadfast in declaring his belief in the Grundy combination, but the output of both when playing together has struggled.

Gawn had been a match-winner for the Dees in the weeks without Grundy, but struggled on Saturday night, finishing with 11 disposals, two marks and one clearance.

Credit should go to Carlton’s own tag-team of Marc Pittonet and Tom De Koning for nullifying their opposing pair, but the subtext of the night was clear.

“Didn’t work. He’s a ruckman, he’s not a forward, he was never a forward and they were never going to be able to turn him into a forward three quarters of the way through the season,” Kane Cornes said on AFL Media’s The Round So Far.

“It was worth a shot. Petty out is a big, big out and they noticed that tonight. I suspect unless Max Gawn gets injured Brodie Grundy plays VFL and they play a dedicated forward.

“Whether that’s Smith or Tomlinson comes back until Bayley Fritsch is ready and they go a little bit smaller, that’s the way I think they go.

“Once again, the flow-on effect was Gawn wasn’t as effective as he’s been in the last four or five weeks either. He wants to be the guy. He tried his heart out but he was ineffective tonight.”

The Dees’ struggles to integrate Grundy led to beyond the field too, according to Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd.

“I actually liked his start to the game as a forward,” he said on Nine’s Sunday Footy Show.

“I just felt that Simon Goodwin after half-time went away from that and decided just to ruck Grundy and Gawn.

“I don’t think it was his fault. He may not get another opportunity but I thought he showed some good signs.

“I’d be pretty excited if I was another club at the opportunity of getting Brodie Grundy. He’s a waste at twos level, so I hope he can find another club next year.”

How the last few weeks have played out could lead to more deep conversations between Grundy and his management over the best move for the future.

Port Adelaide, Sydney and Geelong are three sides that consider themselves in the premiership window and could benefit from a genuine star ruckman.

As it stands, the Dees would love to hold onto Grundy given he is the perfect replacement for Gawn should the latter get injured or his form deteriorate.

A glorified contingency plan is not what Grundy signed up for, however, particularly if other clubs are willing to make him the alpha ruck in 2024 and beyond.