Carlton captain Patrick Cripps has won his second Brownlow Medal, but it was his reflection on his coach’s citizen’s arrest during his acceptance speech that drew a reaction from the audience.
Cripps logged a record-setting 45 votes to lead Collingwood superstar Nick Daicos, who also broke the previous record tally of 36 at Crown Palladium on Monday evening.
During his speech, the 29-year-old was asked by Seven’s Hamish McLachlan about his coach Michael Voss’ influence — with a cheeky reference to his recent takedown of a young offender outside a local cafe.
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“Yeah, Rambo?” said Cripps in response, smirking, to the laughter of the audience.
“It was pretty funny — the boys loved the meeting the next day when he came in.
“He had his coffee, (and) I think he gave the guy he arrested a bit of life advice while he was on the floor, too.”
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On a serious note, however, Cripps spoke glowingly about the 49-year-old’s influence on him and the playing group as the Blues build towards an elusive premiership.
“I’d speak for a lot of the boys, but for me personally, he’s a guy that’s done it, and he’s been a great mentor and also a great friend over the years that we’ve built together,” Cripps said.
“But what I really appreciate is he supports me — we’ve got a really honest relationship but he’s not afraid to challenge and I really respect that and vice versa, and I think that’s really healthy when you’re trying to get a club to not only be good but be great.
“That’s the level we need to get to — we’re a good club at the moment, we’re not a great club yet — but we feel like very soon we can be a great club.”
Cripps said this was the closest Carlton has been to a premiership in his 11 years at the club but maintained there was plenty of room for improvement.
“I feel like it’s the closest now (to a premiership), but I know there’s a lot of hard work to go, so I’m realistic in that, and that’s why I’ve got a lot of appreciation for the Lions and the Swans, because it’s hard to get there,” he said.
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“There are a lot of teams out there that work hard, and there are 16 other teams with the same ambition right now.
“The competition is only getting more even — we know that — and now you’re looking for competitive advantages from your culture.
“We’ve got a bit of work to do, we feel like we’ve got a great culture, we’ve got guys who love coming to work, we’re really close, but there are a few things we’ve got to keep levelling up in — and I’m sure 16 teams are saying the same thing.
“But I know with the quality of characters we have in our group I know we can do amazing things. Now’s the time to actually get away and refresh and recharge, but come December, we’ll be heading down and getting after it.”
Cripps on Monday became the 17th player to win multiple Brownlow Medals.
Source Agencies
