Against a backdrop of early-season struggles that have left many questioning Carlton’s 2026 premiership hopes, captain Patrick Cripps is holding firm to his belief that the club is still on track to compete for Australian Football League’s ultimate prize, despite a disappointing 1-4 record through the first five rounds.
The 31-year-old skipper, now competing in his 13th professional season, has not written off his chance to lift the club’s long-elusive premiership trophy this year. For Cripps, the slow start is far from a final verdict on what the evolving Blues squad can achieve in the coming months.
With a high-stakes clash against longtime archrival Collingwood scheduled for Thursday night, Cripps argues it is far too early to count his side out of contention. A win against the Pies, he insists, could provide exactly the momentum shift Carlton needs to turn its season around.
“Competing for a premiership is still what drives me. Any player in the back half of their career plays for that one goal above everything else,” Cripps told reporters ahead of the Collingwood game. “What I and a lot of us learned last season is that when you fixate too much on the end prize, you lose the joy of putting in the work week after week. That ultimate goal will always be there for as long as I keep playing, but I still love this game – I love training, I love competing against the best.”
Cripps highlighted that while the early results have not gone Carlton’s way, the internal culture and training intensity at the club remain as strong as he has ever experienced in his tenure. “My focus lately has been on leading this group day in and day out. We’ve carried great energy through the first weeks of the season, and that’s one thing we’ve really nailed this year. The start has obviously been challenging, and we haven’t gotten the wins we wanted, but the energy around the club and the standard of our training is higher than I’ve ever felt it. Even when results aren’t going your way, I still love showing up to the club every day – that’s always the biggest test. It’s still early, there’s so much untapped potential in this group, and we can’t wait to get out there on Thursday and kick this campaign into gear.”
Carlton turned in an improved performance against Adelaide last week, fixing the second-half slumps that had plagued earlier outings, but still walked away empty-handed without the four competition points. That result followed a controversial call from head coach Michael Voss to drop George Hewett, the club’s reigning best and fairest winner, a decision that sent shockwaves through the competition.
Cripps acknowledged that the cutting of a popular, experienced teammate like Hewett serves as a wake-up call for every player in the Carlton squad. “It’s always tough losing George – he’s someone I love playing alongside, we’ve shared the field for four years now, every player at the club loves having him around, you always know what you’re going to get from him,” Cripps said. “But at the same time, when results aren’t going your way, you have to be willing to shake up the combination to get things back on track. The way George has handled this, showing up and putting in the work this week, that’s a credit to his character. He puts in more effort than anyone I’ve ever seen at this club, and I’m proud to call him a teammate.”