“WE KNOW when we play with creativity and flair plus a hard-nosed edge, the crowd thrives off that. That’s the beauty of Carlton. We’ve got a passionate supporter base that always shows up, and when we give them something to get behind, there’s a serious energy there.
“We’ve got to lean into that.”
That’s one way to put down a marker for 2026.
Patrick Cripps knows that “words are cheap at this time of year”. But the captain wants to make sure that the Blues are learning from the lessons of 2025.
It was a tough year for the Carlton Football Club on the field from an AFL perspective, as Cripps felt more than most. As always, December provides a time for reflection.
In Cripps’ eyes, there were no shortage of challenges that the year threw at both him and his club.
“Anyone attached to the Carlton Footy Club this year would’ve felt the same way: it was bloody tough,” Cripps told the Summer Sessions podcast.
“It definitely challenged myself as a leader. But I’m always a big believer that you get lessons out of those tough moments - it would be a wasted year if we don’t implement the lessons we’ve learned.
“I reckon we learned a lot around enjoyment and walking towards the obstacle of the challenge… I feel like it’s pretty simple what I’m going to focus on as a leader.”
Cripps himself noticed the shift late in the 2025 season, and believes that has carried through to pre-season so far. There was also the form of the Blues’ AFLW side, which embraced the energy of football to surge to a preliminary final.
Approaching his 13th year in Navy Blue, the 30-year-old has embraced every part of what it means to represent Carlton.
And he wants that positive energy to carry the Club forward into 2026.
“One thing I’ve realised in my 13 years playing for Carlton - and it’s why I love playing for Carlton - is there’s going to be noise. You’ve got to learn to thrive in that. Good or bad, there’s going to be noise no matter what.
“It’s looking forward to that and embracing it.
“That’s what I’ve learned with Carlton: you’ve got to run towards any challenge. If you do that, and you create the energy behind it, then there’s a big wave of energy that will follow. That’s what I’m going to push this year as a club, making sure that when those moments come, we’re ready.”
