de Boer and Dylan Clarke each did a number on him
Against the Dogs, Curnow ran with Bont and Cripps had his hands full with Macrae and Dunkley who both ran riot
Had a mare against Gold Coast (5 frees against) and copped an ankle knock
Beaten by Yeo versus WCE
He had an ear infection and almost missed his 100th against the Saints, then copped the Steele tag
Bit of selective editing by yourself as well, as he went at 128ppg over the first seven with one score under 100.
Here's what I posted in response to a suggestion that Cripps not be picked in 2018:
Still not completely sold on Cripps. 107.6 in his best year and only 97.7 last year (102.9 if you remove R16 when he was injured). Seems to be in 9/10 teams here. What do people see him averaging?
OK I'll bite.
Posted earlier in this thread that there are actually two 2017 scores to be omitted:
- His opening round 50 after he came off an interrupted preseason with a stuffed back (lowest score since his debut year; lowest CP count since he stuffed his back Rd 1 2015 and got 53)
- The Rd 16 game where he broke his leg.
Omitting those games he averaged 26.6 disposals (56% contested), 6.2 tackles, 7.1 clearances, three inside 50s and 107 SC points over 13 games which aligns with 2016 where he averaged 26.9 disposals (62% contested), 6.6 tackles, 8.8 clearances, three inside 50s and 107.6 SC points over 21 games.
107.6 isn't too shabby when you consider it was his second full season at age 21 - it's on par with Oliver 2017 (111.5 in his second full season at 19), Fyfe 2011 (108 in his second full season at 19) and Rockliff 2011 (113.6 in his second full season at 21).
It's foolish to rely on statistics alone as the measure of a player, but when it comes to SuperCoach numbers don't lie. Of those players to have averaged 105+ at age 21 or younger, none has bettered Cripps 2016 in terms of average contested possessions or clearances and he's third behind Liberatore 2014 and Oliver 2017 for average tackles.
The 2016 season came when Murphy was restricted to 10 games through injury so Cripps won a quarter of Carlton's clearances for the year and a full eighth of their contested ball. We now have Murphy at 30 years old and Gibbs having departed for Adelaide; barring injury Cripps must and will assume responsibility for the bulk of Carlton's inside work in 2018.
His preseason campaign and JLT series have shown he's made a satisfactory recovery from his broken fibula (which didn't require surgery).
Cripps is now 23. I count 38 23-year-old midfielders to have cracked the ton, including a dozen over 110, four over 120 (Pendles 2011, Bartel 2007 (Brownlow), Fyfe 2015 (Brownlow), JPK 2012) and one over 130 (Ablett 2008 (robbed of the Brownlow)).
Cripps is at least $50k underpriced, by rights he should be sitting around that $590k mark. For the price you'd take 105-109 in a heartbeat but a contested midfielder of his calibre and at this stage of his career really should be returning 110-120.
Demands selection.
And of course he got 119.4.
You might argue Cripps is marginally underpriced again, omit the mare/injury game against the Suns (against whom he scored 169 earlier in the year) and he's at 119.4 once more. And just as clubs develop techniques to try to combat Cripps's influence, so too does Carlton develop tactics to combat those.
At 25 he's just coming into his peak seasons. I view Cripps as a 120ppg player who's found a way to miss out on a 120 average (playing 20+ matches a year doesn't help - hi Nathan). Very brave to bet against him.