VFL 2022 Rd 14 Carlton vs Coburg

[crashlander]

[5] Josh Cripps continues to disappoint. He isn't getting the possessions and he is making no impact as a 2nd or 3rd ruck. His ruck work looks very ordinary and he struggles to get much off the ground. I think he will also do better when the grounds get harder, but he is not showing what I hoped he would. Maybe we will keep him on at this level, but he really needs to put in a hell of a lot of hard work, especially running work. At this point, I can't see him making it.

I may have done Josh Cripps something of a disservice with my comments: for the first time this year big Josh took a couple of really strong marks in the forward line. Usually, he converts pretty well, but this time he couldn't. This is one of the areas where I think he has made considerable improvement. Early in the season he wasn't taking any contested marks.
That said, a number of my recent comments still very much hold true: he really needs to work on his fitness, as he doesn't get much off the ground, he doesn't get to enough contests and he doesn't lead as much as I would like him to do. His ruck work is very ordinary: he rarely make real body contact, where, as he is going to be strong ruckman rather than an athletic one, he really needs to bash into opponents.
Glass=McCasker is similar; he doesn't make much body contact when in the ruck. However, he isn't the type who thrives on that sort of thing, he is a more athletic player.

For that matter, Sam Philp must be putting his spot on the list at risk. He isn't making much of a contribution at the moment, although he did better last week up the ground and in the centre square. At the moment, he would be the favourite to make way.

I might also have ben a bit harsh on Philp. He went off before quarter time, which makes his stats look a lot better.
In fact, for much of the night we only had one on the bench, but that is another tale (and a damned good one).
Phlip's problem at the moment is that he isn't providing anything significantly different to what our smaller players are providing. He is 186 cm tall and looks to be taller, but you don't see him using that height and taking marks in the forward half (unless they are uncontested). His kicking is usually pretty good, but it hasn't had that extra penetration that would be a selling point in his favour. He isn't getting large numbers of tackles. He hasn't been getting the scoring opportunities, especially from crumbs around the pack. Honey really did that last week, which was why he got the game. Honey also has the explosiveness that can make the unusual happen. I haven't seen that yet from Philp.
I don't think any of these things are beyond him, although I don't seeing him taking spectacular marks. Just solid ones against opposition would be enough. His form has been better in recent times when he has spent more time in the midfield. Perhaps he could be heading to that, but I still want to see the hunger you see sometimes from Corey Durdin and Matt Owies.