Inspirational Carlton captain Patrick Cripps will return from damage for the blockbuster AFL conflict with Collingwood in an enormous increase to the Blues’ probabilities of upsetting the ladder leaders.
Cripps missed final week’s thrashing of West Coast – the barnstorming Blues’ fifth straight win – with a corked hamstring.
The Brownlow medallist didn’t take part in Thursday morning’s gentle coaching run with teammates however has been given the inexperienced gentle to play on the MCG on Friday night time.
“He did run around earlier, so he’s right to go,” Carlton coach Michael Voss instructed reporters on Thursday.
“He’ll take his position in the team, which is good news.
“He’s needed to have some persistence with it … however he is executed all of the work, so he’ll be able to go.”
Carlton have been hit by injuries, losing gun midfielder Sam Walsh (hamstring) and utility Jack Silvagni (knee) this week.
Key forward Harry McKay (knee) is also unavailable.
The Blues take on a Collingwood side that is just about at full strength after Will Hoskin-Elliott was cleared to return from a broken hand.
He was named on the Magpies’ emergency list, while Bobby Hill is out because of illness.
Adam Cerra, Jack Martin, Matthew Owies and Caleb Marchbank have been named to return for Carlton alongside Cripps and Marc Pittonet, who will resume the No.1 ruck role.
Pittonet had been managing a knee injury since Carlton’s round-15 bye but got through his VFL comeback unscathed last week.
The physical big man’s return comes with young ruck-forward Tom De Koning required to spend more time in attack to cover the loss of McKay.
“There’ll be no actual secrets and techniques there for us,” Voss stated.
“(Pittonet) carried out actually, actually strongly (within the VFL) so he is a little bit of an computerized for us into the crew and offers that aggression across the ball.
“It’s going to start with contest and plenty of pressure, which Collingwood have been able to bring across the whole year, so we know what’s coming.”
Carlton have misplaced their final three encounters with Collingwood.
That run includes a pair of single-figure-margin losses final season, together with the heartbreaking one-point defeat that put the Blues out of 2022’s finals race.
“You’ve got to play 120 minutes, and if it needs to be 124 then you’ve got to play 124,” Voss stated.
“We know that’s what they bring. You’d expect any side that’s on top of the ladder to know how to play the entire game.
“That’s what they will ask of us; to have the ability to play to the depth we’d like.
“We feel like we’re well prepared. We’ve been making some steady progress in a few important areas … and we need to put that out there on Friday night.”
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
