Dale Thomas is no stranger to playing alongside greats in the midfield. Two brownlow medalists in Nathan Buckley and Dane Swan, as well as Steele Sidebottom and Scott Pendlebury, to name a few.
However, Thomas ranks 23-year-old Patrick Cripps as ''one of the best I've seen'', and due to Cripps' play on the field as of late, not too many are surprised with Thomas' statement.
Daisy explained to SEN how the clearance machine is poised to become one of the league's superstars.
โHe is as good as Iโve seen to be completely honest,โ he told SEN Breakfast on Friday.
โEvery time I get asked a question about him, you feel bad for pumping him up because you donโt want to feel like youโre putting extra pressure on him but he sort of brings it upon himself in the way that he goes about his footy.
โHe is a leader on the field, the way he prepares off the field and the lessons he is teaching the younger guys coming through is first class.
โHe has that presence, you play with blokes where you can see the drive and itโs almost like, jump on my back here fellas, Iโll carry you around for a few minutes just to get the job done. He is one of those blokes.
โThere was a stat the other day, he is the quickest player to get to 1,000 contested possessions ever in the game. He prides himself on that part of his game and he is unstoppable and itโs a pleasure to watch.โ
Cripps is averaging 28.2 disposals, 8.2 clearances, 6.6 tackles and 4.0 inside 50s per game this season.
