“It’s exciting, but at the same time we have won two pre-season games. We are far from ahead of ourselves. We have a lot of work to do,” Cripps said.
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“There’s a lot of noise, but we are big on the fact we have to earn a lot of respect back in the competition this year.”
Cripps said with the arrival of Adam Cerra and George Hewett in particular the Blues were looking to build their own midfield in the mould of the great Brisbane midfield that Michael Voss had been involved in. Called the Fab Four, the Lions had three Brownlow medallists: Voss, Simon Black and Jason Akermanis, along with another elite player Nigel Lappin, who was the only one of the four to be All-Australian in each of the team’s premiership years.
“You talk about that talented midfield – that’s something we really want to create. He [Voss] played in a really great midfield and we feel like that’s something we want to build as a group as well,” Cripps said.
Tom De Koning soars over Melbourne captain Max Gawn.Credit:Getty Images
“We did a lot of work over the summer especially, adding George and Cerra in to combine with myself and Walshy, Matty Kennedy, Paddy Dow, the rucks, there’s a lot of different dynamics. Will Setterfield, there’s a lot of different dynamics.
“Look at the age demographics. We are at a really good age to build something for a long time.”
After a lean couple of seasons through injury and form, Cripps said he was determined to return to his best.
“You never want to be out of form for periods of time, but I learnt a lot from last couple of years. I am pretty determined to have a good year,” he said.
“You might not produce what you would love to produce, but you still feel like you are producing for the team. I would still rather produce something for the team than not play at all. I am not one to use an excuse of injury.”
Cripps said, as a friend, he supported popular key defender Liam Jones for his decision to walk away from football rather than agree to be vaccinated.
”One thing I said was I will always support him. I couldn’t speak highly enough of Jones as a person and a player. I know the boys miss him. He was great around the club for culture and that. We have moved on. I know a lot of the boys, clearly myself, still have really good contact with him,” he said.
Jones’ void will be covered by a team defensive system but Oscar McDonald and Mitch McGovern have both performed well in key back roles over the pre-season.
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‘We have a lot of different weapons’: Cripps bullish about Blues’ attack
Source: Philippines Alive
