Star Blues skipper Patrick Cripps says he’ll leave a call on whether Josh Fraser should be part of Carlton’s coaching search to the rising caretaker and club bosses.
And Cripps has “always been committed” to Carlton despite speculation on his future throughout this season on whether the dual Brownlow medallist will remain in navy blue.
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The Blues have surged into finals contention with a perfect 6-0 run under Fraser, after only one win previously in 2026, in a shock resurgence following Michael Voss’ departure in early May.
While Carlton remains committed to running a proper process in its search for a new coach, the club’s revival under Fraser has forced the interim boss’ name into the conversation, despite him repeatedly saying he won’t go for the role on a permanent basis.
So would Cripps want to see Fraser coach Carlton in 2027?
“This is probably the most asked question I’m getting at the moment,” Cripps told foxfooty.com.au.
“He’s done a great job. The way he carries himself is first class, his composure on game day and in the media is really solid.
“The whole reason they got the process going is for this exact reason — you let the key decision makers go to work.
“I’ve talked about it a bit, but we’re pretty keen to keep focusing on this year and see how far we can go and all that other stuff will take care of itself.
“‘Frase’ will be the one that makes the call if he wants to go into the process.”
Patrick Cripps is a Kayo Sports ambassador.Source: FOX SPORTS
The next five Carlton games are exclusively live in Vic on Fox Footy, available on Kayo Sports.
Cripps is a Kayo Sports ambassador and means many things to Carlton and its fans as the club’s much-loved, long-time captain.
But he said hasn’t been involved in any decisions on the coaching selection process after the club assembled its four-person panel for the hire, which includes chief executive Graham Wright, president Rob Priestley, president footy boss Chris Davies and Eagles premiership coach Adam Simpson.
“With footy clubs, you back the key decision makers in to make the right call to take the club forward,” Cripps said.
“With ‘Wrighty’ and ‘CD’ (Davies), they’ve both been at footy clubs for a long period of time and have a great track record of making great decisions.
“As players, that gives you great confidence that they’ve been around long enough and know what success looks it and they’ll make the right decision.
“And to be honest, you don’t want to get caught up in that stuff. You just want to keep focusing on footy and this year and creating the right environment for the boys.”
While the Blues are flourishing under a new coach, the gun skipper said the energy around the club had been “really high” since the pre-season and that he believes their 1-8 record “wasn’t a true reflection of our ability.”
But there’s no such “silver bullet” for the sudden jolt in form.
“I know everyone is thinking: ‘What’s been the massive changes?’ But I think it’s just a lot of micro changes and a bit of momentum that’s helped,” he added.
“I feel like the foundations of what we were trying to achieve we started in pre-season and we made a fair few tweaks to our game plan from last year. That takes time.
“Plus, you add a lot of new personnel into the side — we lost some key pieces and added some great experienced players, combined with some of the young guys coming in.
“I think it’s just a sum of a lot of little things. And the one thing you can’t really measure sometimes is players’ confidence and belief. Sometimes you need a win every now and then to feel that.
“I know everything thinks there’s this big silver bullet, but I think it’s been a work in progress over a fair bit of time.”
Josh Fraser and Patrick Cripps (Photo by James Wiltshire/AFL Photos via Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
Cripps has very much embodied Carlton’s turnaround under Fraser in a blistering stretch from the star midfielder.
Ahead of last week’s win over West Coast, Cripps had been the AFL’s No. 12 ranked player over the last five-game run after sitting No. 90 previously this season.
Despite that, the 31-year old thinks his form had been “pretty consistent” since Round 6 and that the loss to St Kilda in Round 8 was his “only mulligan.”
The four-time All-Australian has very much backed up his pledge of commitment to lead the club through the next 14 rounds when pressed on his future after Voss’ departure in May.
It became a hot topic as Cripps, originally from Western Australia, goes through another coaching change at Carlton without an elusive premiership to his otherwise stacked footy CV.
But Cripps, contracted at Ikon Park until the end of the 2027 season, says he’s still as invested as ever and feels energised by the club’s exuberance of youth.
“I’ve always been committed. I know what the nature is when you’re a leader, you’re getting older and at that time the club wasn’t going the way we wanted,” he said.
“There’s always going to be speculation but there’s always been speculation around this stuff over my career and I think that’s the nature when you’re from interstate.
“But I’ve said along, I’ve had pretty tunnel vision as a player my whole career about building this club up. It’s nice to get a bit of momentum now.
“I just love creating an environment where people love coming to work.
“I think what gives some of us older boys a bit of youth back is seeing these young guys come in with so much enthusiasm and drive and the way they’re playing.
“It shows you two things; we’re providing an environment to let them shine and they feel the confidence to go out there and play. But also they’re doing the right standards and things by the team.
“They definitely keep you younger, which is the best.”
Patrick Cripps celebrates a goal (Photo by Quinn Rooney/Getty Images)Source: FOX SPORTS
Although Carlton’s improvement under Fraser has clearly shifted the narrative around the club externally, it hasn’t changed Cripps’ thoughts on his own plans and the idea of finishing his career at Carlton.
“Not really. I don’t really look too far ahead, I’m contracted until the end of next year,” he said.
“I’ve been here for 13 years now, next year will be 14.
“When you’re with a club, especially in a leadership position, you just get sort of entrenched in it all and build so many strong relationships.
“The motivation has always been to reach the ultimate and that’s always been the goal.
“But the environment and energy this year has been as good as I’ve felt it since I’ve been at the footy club.
“I feel like we’ve got a great bunch of guys that work really hard and are all committed to the right stuff.
“I won’t look too far ahead, but my motivation and tunnel vision hasn’t changed.”
Meanwhile, Cripps said it was “awesome” to see Voss already back in the footy public eye after the former Blues coach officially joined Fox Footy last week.
“He’s a three-time premiership player and absolute star of our game with a lot of knowledge. I’m glad he’s got a role there,” he said.
“I’ve been chatting to ‘Vossy’ a fair bit since he parted ways with the club, I think he’ll do a great job there.
“I think the way he holds himself and communicates speaks volumes of him as a person and his values.
“You can hear whenever the boys talk about ‘Vossy’ the high regard we hold him in. He’s been a great person and great mentor for all the boys, but especially myself.”