Two most senior Blues address burning trade question as rival reveals ‘worry’ for Cripps

Carlton’s two most senior leaders have vowed to lead the club through the fallout of Michael Voss’ sudden exit as two rival stars expressed sympathy for star skipper Patrick Cripps.

Voss announced his resignation to general manager Chris Davies in Brisbane on Friday and the news broke early Tuesday morning.

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Cripps spoke openly to the media in the car park prior to the club press conference, revealing he was one of the first to know about Voss’ resignation.

Carlton chief executive Graham Wright, alongside president Rob Priestley and football boss Chris Davies, then fronted reporters, with Wright declaring the Blues would “attack the draft” while refusing to concede specifically to the ‘rebuild’ terminology.

Carlton holds its own first-round pick this year (currently Pick 3) and Sydney’s after the Curnow trade, which is presently last in the order. It also owns Sydney’s 2027 first-rounder.

However, given changes to the national draft, the Blues will almost certainly need to fork out both first-rounders to match a top-five rival bid for prized father-son prospect Cody Walker, who looms as a top-two pick.

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“We’ll certainly go to the draft again this year — this is the last uncompromised draft before Tassie comes in, we’ve got two picks in this year’s draft — whether we get to keep both of those, depending on what happens with Cody (Walker),” Wright said.

“But we’d also like to have more picks in this year’s draft, and we’ve got two in next year’s as well, so that’d be the way we’ll attack it.”

Wright’s comments come amid ample external concerns over the state of Carlton’s list.

Four-time premiership Hawk Jordan Lewis last week claimed on Fox Footy’s On The Couch just one player from Carlton’s Round 8 loss to St Kilda — Sam Walsh — “would walk into any other side in the competition”, based on current form.

Lewis last month also suggested there was “a serious question on whether they (the Blues) can trade Cripps out and get draft picks back in and it be a win-win for both clubs”.

Channel 7 reporter Tom Morris on Tuesday night suggested there was “absolutely a world where Cripps is not at Carlton next year”, but warned: “How that plays out remains to be seen, because he’s not worth a hell of a lot on the trade table anymore. But I don’t think it’s certain he’s going to be there in 2027.”

But Cripps, who fronted the media again on Tuesday afternoon, committed to steering the Blues through the next 14 rounds.

“Mate, I am contracted until next year. Like I said before, I am really committed in terms of this season,” Cripps said.

“I am not going to just wave the white flag and waste a year, there’s a lot of footy to be played this year.

“The privilege to play AFL, any game of AFL, is a massive honour. There’s so many people in the world that would love to play any game of footy.

“That never gets lost on me and especially for this footy club, I am going to lead it the same way I’ve been doing it for the last six to eight years.

“Wear the jumper with pride and keep going for it.”

Melbourne premiership captain and eight-time All-Australian Max Gawn told Triple M’s breakfast program on Tuesday Voss’ resignation felt “premature” before turning his sympathy towards Cripps.

“I’d be worried if I was a captain with an interim coach for 15 weeks,” Gawn told Triple M.

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“But obviously the future is just out of the building, so you don’t really know where it’s going. And that’s a weird place for a footballer to be.

“I was obviously captain last year during these three weeks (after Simon Goodwin was let go) and I had players that were worried about their contract. They didn’t know who was going to give them a contract, worried about getting selected.

“So a week ago, I’m presuming Michael Voss would have been talking about the future still and ‘Goody’— after we beat West Coast by 100 — when Goody got shown the door, and Goody was talking in leadership groups and with me personally about next year. So you’re always talking about that, and now that conversation is just completely gone.

“It’s a big job for ‘Crippa’. He’s had a mountain of work over the last five, six years, and he’s got another big one now to keep, to keep everything going.”

Asked if he had empathy towards Cripps, who lived through his fourth coach sacking on Tuesday, Geelong captain Patrick Dangerfield told Fox Footy’s AFL 360: “Yeah I certainly do.

“You feel really guilty as a player, because you go through the pre-season on what you want to achieve and how you want to play.

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“You know when you’re 1-8 … that you’re not executing on that and you do know there’s an air of inevitability around it.

“It’s a really difficult situation for players, particularly leaders. But everyone in the building will be feeling a sense of disappointment for Michael and what could’ve been.”

Gold Coast star Touk Miller, who was at the club when Rodney Eade and Stuart Dew were sacked in-season, added on AFL 360: “It’s pretty emotional, anyone who’s been in that position knows that’s someone’s job and that’s someone’s livelihood … It all comes crashing down pretty quick.

“It shouldn’t go understated that you definitely feel a lot of guilt factor in that.”

Cripps isn’t the only established Blues player being discussed as potential trade bait by commentators.

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Dual All-Australian David King also suggested last month Carlton should put All-Australian Weitering up for trade at season’s end to help accelerate the Blues rebuild, telling First Crack: “I’m getting two first-rounders as quick as I can.”

But when asked if he wanted to stay at Carlton long-term, Weitering — who’s contracted until the end of the 2031 season — declared: “Yes, most certainly.

“I made the decision a long time ago that I wanted to be a Carlton player for life. I’ve got five years left on my contract here and the leaders have got a job to do, we’ve got to lead this club forward through our actions and words.

“I want to be a part of that, for sure.”

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