Patrick Cripps sees something in Carlton others haven’t.

The Blues’ captain isn’t willing to rule out another year without that elusive premiership in 2026, affirming his personal drive and belief in an evolving group.

Carlton is 1-4 after five starts and the reality of Cripps – in his 13th season – going another year without success is growing larger by the week.

But the 31-year-old says “it’s still early” and believes a win over arch rival Collingwood on Thursday night could be the “kick start” to their season.

“It still drives me, I think any player that gets to the back end of their career that’s the sole purpose you play for,” Cripps said.

“The thing I learnt last year, a lot of us did, when you get too focused on the end result you lose the joy of the weekly stuff.

“Although that will be my goal for however long I keep playing for, I still love the game, I love training, I love competing.

“My focus lately has been on really leading the boys – (at the) start of the week, we’ve had a great energy and I think it’s one thing as a group we’ve done really well this year.

“The start has been challenging – obviously haven’t got the results – but the energy at the club and the way the boys have been training is as high as I’ve ever felt it.

“I still have been loving going to the club, which is always the biggest challenge when you haven’t been getting results.

“It’s still early in the year, I feel there’s a lot of potential in our group. We’re looking forward to Thursday to really kick start our year.”

Carlton was better against Adelaide last Thursday night, improving its second half blues, but still left without the four points.

The loss came after coach Michael Voss made the shock omission of reigning best and fairest winner George Hewett.

Cripps says Voss’ decision “in a way” puts the rest of the Blues on notice.

“It’s always tough because someone like myself, he’s a guy I love playing with,” he said.

“We’ve played four years together and you know what you’re going to get from George, he’s one of the most-loved teammates.

“In a way, but when you’re not getting results you know you need to keep changing that mix.

“If you see the way he goes about it, the way he went about it this week, credit to him as a person.

“He puts in as much work as anyone I have seen around the footy club and I love playing with him.”

Originally published as AFL 2026: Carlton captain Patrick Cripps on the Blues’ floundering flag chances