Could Carlton be better off by slightly altering the role of captain Patrick Cripps?
That is the idea David King wants to float in the wake of the Blues’ action-packed 13-point loss to Geelong at the MCG on Saturday night.
King has highlighted the need for the better teams to have a midfielder who can be impactful at the stoppage and contest, but who can also have a say up forward.
While Cripps is one of the AFL’s premier ball winners at the coalface, King wants to also see him used as a dangerous forward
He was one of his side’s very best in the loss to the Cats with 29 disposals and eight clearances, while impacting in attack with eight score involvements, eight inside 50s and two goals.
It was the attacking element of Cripps’ performance that King was buoyed by.
He explained what he was thinking by referencing a number of players who operate in similar roles.
“Is the best player in the competition confined to just playing one role in our game?,” Cripps said on SEN’s Whateley.
“Everyone's talking about the season that Isaac Heeney is having on the back of the Dustin Martin profile.
“Christian Petracca is the same.
“We're seeing Jeremy Cameron now go to another level with his work up the field.
“We've always talked about Marcus Bontempelli, who probably doesn't do it as much as a forward as he does as a mid, but there's certainly a percentage in there.
“Shai Bolton is challenging the competition to evaluate him differently.
“Jake Stringer. Now the team's getting some success, he’s getting his flowers. He was that player looking to regain that status.
“I just look at some of the young guys that are being tried in these roles now.
“Does Izak Rankine have the capability of becoming a top five player playing that role?
“Harley Reid will be this player for the West Coast. That's just a matter of weeks away.
“Is it Connor Rozee at Port Adelaide? I don't know if he's doing that just yet, but is that him?”
King is firmly of the belief that Cripps is the man for the Blues to provide forward relief for Charlie Curnow and Harry McKay as a third marking option inside forward 50.
He feels he might be wasted getting disposals in defensive 50.
Cripps is fourth in the league for average contested possessions, equal fifth for average centre clearances, 10th for overall clearances and is averaging over 27 disposals in 2024.
But King wants him to become more of an attacking threat in order to make Michael Voss’ Blues an even stronger outfit.
“The one player that I want to put on the radar that could have a massive impact and serious implications on the 2024 season: Carlton needs Patrick Cripps to become this player,” King added.
“They crave that third tall target.
“Everyone tells me it's Jack Martin, but Jack Martin doesn't play. He doesn't play consistently enough to say that's our man heading into the final series. He's unreliable with his availability.
“So why wouldn't you use what you know is going to be there?
“Cripps is going to be there. We don't need him to get the meaningless possessions down back.
“But centre-forward, he's kicked 6.1 this year. He only kicked nine (goals) last year.
“He’s a different version, a better product in front of goal right now than what he's been. I just think there's opportunity for Carlton to get stronger again.
“They're an excellent profile at the moment with the way they're winning contest and clearance and I think there's others that can do that, along with Paddy.
“We’ve got 15 weeks to have a look at it.”
King can see Cripps truly becoming ‘Captain Carlton’ if he is used in a more advanced role.
“I wonder if Cripps could absolutely be ‘Captain Carlton’ and get it done in the middle and centre-forward,” he continued.
“You've got to find nuance in your game.
“No one has got an answer for Jeremy Cameron, no one has got an answer for Isaac Heeney. Christian Petracca is saying ‘you can't stop me’.
“So why wouldn't Paddy Cripps be in that conversation?”
The Blues fell to sixth on the ladder after their second loss of the season.
With Cripps at the helm they’ll be looking to return to the winners’ list when they meet reigning premiers Collingwood at the MCG this Friday night.