How Carlton's Patrick Cripps smashed AFL Brownlow Medal record

A very small number of young boys grow up and get to play footy at the highest level.

For most of those men, it's a dream that's come true.

It takes exceptional talent just to get to the league — just 0.2 per cent of teenage boys playing footy will make it to the AFL.

Even fewer are talented and lucky enough to be recognised by the umpires as the fairest and best player in the AFL.

Just 90 men of the 13,172 players to don the boots in a game of league football have won footy's highest individual honour — around 0.7 per cent of all players ever.

Before Monday night, only 16 players across the first century of the Brownlow Medal had done so more than once.

On Monday night at 10:36pm, that exclusive club grew by one member as Carlton's Patrick Cripps became the 2024 Brownlow Medallist.

The ABC's political analyst Antony Green might have been tempted to call it a little earlier, given how dominant the Carlton captain's performance was in the count.

Cripps recorded a whopping 45 votes across the 2024 season.

That's a clear record for all standard seasons — excluding the two where vote tallies were doubled in 1976 and 1977 due to the introduction of two umpires.

Between 1940 and 2010 no player tallied more than 30 votes in a single season and, although 20 players have since racked up more than the 30 votes in a season, Monday's was the first instance of a man earning more than 40.

Cripps's 45 votes — coming from 17 different games — was more than three clubs received across the course of the entire season.

The numbers of the night are staggering, but more interesting is how he put such an amazing season together.

This is the story of Patrick Cripps' record-breaking year.

Dominating on field

Patrick Cripps has dominated opponents with a mix of athleticism and guile. (Getty Images: AFL Photos/Michael Willson)

Often what separates the good from the great isn't raw talent, athleticism or skill; that'll only get you through the front door of most clubs.

What makes a good player great is instead something far harder to tap into. It's drive — the ambition to continually improve and get better.

"I had to go to work on my game at the end of last year," the now two-time medallist said.

"I felt like there were a few areas I really needed to go to work on. I was shut out of the game too many times by opposition."

Hailing from Northampton in WA's Wheat Belt, Cripps saw first hand the importance of hard work.

Success often isn't built overnight — instead it takes time and dedication.

As Cripps stated, over the year he has slowly evolved his game.

He's become more dynamic and proactive — scoring more and tackling less.

Relative to his first Brownlow year he's not only winning more clearances but also winning more territory with his ball use.

The addition of partners in crime such as Sam Walsh and the defensive George Hewett allowed him to shift his approach a little.

"You can then expand certain parts of your game, and I feel like I'm trying to develop my outside game a bit more, get on the end of some more handball receives, and use my power more than I did in the past," Cripps said earlier this year.

This hard graft defines Cripps on a football field. No player in the game was better at winning the contested ball than Carlton's talisman this year.

Cripps led the AFL in clearances per game for the third time in his career, and the first time since 2019. He also ranked highly for how he influences his team hitting the scoreboard even when he's not directly kicking at goal.

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Cripps excels at corralling hit-outs from his rucks, his Carlton teammates often protect space around their captain and let him go to work.

The 29-year-old has the size, strength and speed to beat most opponents one on one, with his giant 195cm frame built for exploiting even the smallest weaknesses in defenders.

Cripps also finished third for hard ball gets across the year: That's where the ball is won under direct physical pressure.

He seemingly has a radar for anticipating when contact is about to come, and how to best avoid the full brunt of it, deploying enough strength to fight his way through most initial embraces to at least give his team a chance at retaining possession.

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One of the wrinkles that Cripps added to his game this year was his ability in the ruck itself.

He attended more ruck contests than ever before, finishing in the top 20 for "grab and go" balls won directly from a ruck contest. He's the only non-ruck (or conventional tall) near the top end of the stat — a testament to his malleability on the field.

This is the sort of in-and-under, eye-catching work that the umpires seem increasingly willing to reward.

There's other parts of his game that also improved this year. Cripps managed 17 goals on the season — just short of his personal record of 20 from 2022, despite spending less time up forward, recording the fewest number shots on goal and marks inside 50 than in recent years.

Instead, his accuracy when shooting for goal was significantly up on previous years. Cripps also managed to gain more territory with his disposals than ever before while turning it over less than in his other Brownlow year of 2022.

This year was not just a continuation of Cripps's excellent career to date, but an improvement on seasons' past.

Looking for more

Patrick Cripps wants more from the Blues in future seasons. (Getty Images: AFL Photos/Michael Willson)

After such a record setting season, many are already tipping Cripps to add a third Brownlow around his neck in the future.

At 29 years old the West Australian has plenty more time to shine.

But despite the individual acclaim, Cripps hinted during the year that his most important footballing challenge will be to lead Carlton to the promised land of a premiership.

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"Definitely playing in the finals series last year was the best," Cripps told the media earlier this year.

"Individual stuff is a reward for hard work, but I think if you talk to any AFL player, the reward and fulfilment come from team success."

This campaign the Blues fell two weeks short of their stellar 2023 season. It was a significant step back from where they wanted to be this year.

His hometown side, Northampton Rams, tasted that premiership success for the first time in almost 20 years last season, led by former AFL stars Josh Kennedy and Harry Taylor.

Also in that Northampton side was Cripps's brother, Josh.

That success is where Cripps desperately wants the Blues to be.

Given his incredible season in 2024, it's clear that Cripps will keep working and pushing until they reach that mark.

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