Carlton co-captain Patrick Cripps has been ruled out of Carlton's clash with Collingwood on Sunday afternoon with soreness.
Zac Fisher returns as one of three changes, but we'll be without co-captain Patrick Cripps for Sunday's clash with the old enemy.
— Carlton FC (@CarltonFC) July 16, 2021
Cripps has battled a series of injuries throughout the season with a broken back, sore shoulder and now a foot/ankle injury nagging away at the Carlton star.
In the Blues win over Fremantle two weeks ago Cripps battled away after hurting his foot and was clearly impaired. So much so, he opted to kick on his left foot or handball when in possession of the ball for the remainder of that game.
He played last week in the loss to the Cats but looked like a player who was carrying something as he failed to reach his lofty standards.
Cripps joins Will Setterfield (omitted) and Lachie Fogarty (managed) on the sidelines this week with Matt Cottrell, Zac Fisher and Liam Jones all returning to the side.
There were calls after the Geelong game for Cripps to be rested with Triple M
Former Tiger star Nathan Brown questioned whether Cripps should have played against Geelong last weekend.
"I don't understand at all why he is playing." Brown said
"For the betterment of the Carlton footy club, [Teague's] got to say 'I don't think you should be playing at all again this year'".
"For the betterment of the Carlton Football Club, I would be saying to Patrick Cripps 'you're done for this year'."@nathanbrown_07 believes Carlton must protect Patrick Cripps and rest him for the remainder of the season.#9AFLSFS | Watch @channel9 pic.twitter.com/TlEqnkZwcE
— Footy on Nine (@FootyonNine) July 11, 2021
Carlton haven't replaced their best inside midfielder with a like-for-like player meaning it could be time for Liam Stocker to spend time in the midfield. A decision Carlton fans have bee clamouring after for months.
There was still no place in the 22 for Lochie O'Brien who was good in a VFL scratch match last week.
Victoria's lockdown means there will be no VFL this weekend further delaying the return to football of star forward Charlie Curnow who was due to play his first game in over two years.
Cripps joins names like co-captain Sam Docherty, Marc Pittonet, Caleb Marchbank, Mitch McGovern, Michael Gibbons, Marc Murphy, Levi Casboult, Oscar McDonald and David Cuningham on a lengthy Carlton injury list.
