‘Honest conversations’: Soul-searching begins

Carlton captain Patrick Cripps says there will be some “honest conversations” at the Blues this week after falling out of the top eight but remains adamant the players still “get to have a say” in their finals destiny.

As the Blues brace for bad news on a potentially season-ending ankle injury to star forward Charlie Curnow, Cripps said it was important to “stay united, stay together”, with Sunday’s clash against West Coast in Perth the first of two final must-win games to get back to the finals.

Carlton fell outside the top eight, on percentage, after being smashed by Hawthorn in a devastating 74-point MCG loss on Sunday, with an ankle injury to two-time Coleman medallist Curnow among significant player carnage.

Jack Martin and Adam Saad both suffered hamstring recurrences and Lachie Fogarty hurt his collarbone injury in the defeat, Carlton’s fifth in the past six matches, with their season hanging by a thread.

Cripps conceded to have a sense of “disappointment, frustration” and knows what’s needed to try to right the ship.

“It’s going to be a really honest week, it’s really important we stick together,” he said in the aftermath.

“As frustrating and disappointing as today was, there’s still a lot of football to be played this season. We always talk about earning the right. We have a big game next week and a big game the week after and we’re still in a position to earn that right. We’ve got to stick together, we’re going to keep working hard and give it everything we’ve got. It’s that stronger together mentality.

“I can’t stress enough we have to stay united, stay together.”

The Blues have lost three matches in a row and five of their past six to tumble from the top two and must beat West Coast in Perth, then St Kilda, to give themselves any chance of qualifying for finals, with other results likely to determine their fate.

Cripps is adamant his team, which made the preliminary final in 2023 and was second on the ladder just last month, would still “have a say” in how their season plays out.

“There will be some honest conversations during the week and that’s high performance,” he said.

“One thing I know about this group, if you look at the season as a whole, everyone goes through spurts. We’re going through one of those at the moment.

“There’s a couple of games to go and we’re in a position where we’ve got a say on it, so we have to do everything we can to have a say.”