How does Crippa rank among the panoply of Carlton greats?

Re: How does Crippa rank among the panoply of Carlton greats?

Reply #60 – Today at 01:09:37 am

Quote from: Gointocarlton – on August 01, 2026, 05:47:46 pm

@ Crash and Lods: I still maintain that we have been blessed many of the games all time greats. More than any other team (Haw, Coll and Rich supporters will never admit that of course).

Maybe not for all time: I didn't see the really old days. But in my lifetime we have been blessed with some remarkable players. Not just because we won premierships either, but we were so even that even though we might have the most Brownlow votes as a team, we never had a medalist.
In some ways Cripps has been luckier, as an individual player; he has won the Brownlow twice (the only Blue ever to do so). Others have won one with us, and one elsewhere. But it is because we haven't had the same depth of talent in recent times that Cripps stands out. Few Carlton players in the past have had to carry the club like Cripps has. In some ways that also shows just how good he is: we've been through the worst period in the clubs history, and he has been a beacon of hope.

Back in 1973 Richmond realized they couldn't beat us playing football. Instead, they tried to take our players out. We had maybe 13 fit players at the end of that one. I will never forgive them for that. Those Richmond players were a stain on the game. But it illustrates is: the only way they could win is to cheat.

Re: How does Crippa rank among the panoply of Carlton greats?

Reply #61 – Today at 08:56:45 am

Going through the annals of carlton folklore shows something. Players like Ratten played high level football every week and this made our guns walk taller and elevated the status of lesser players too.

Not that Ratten wasn't a brilliant player, but he was super consistent and reliable.

We have seldom had players in that mould but have had many that were capable of brilliance.