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"Absolute alignment": Cripps and Weitering open communication
Jaiden Sciberras • September 2nd, 2025 7:35 pm
Carlton stars and club leaders Patrick Cripps and Jacob Weitering have professed their raw emotions on a troubling 2025 in an honest post-season conversation.
Finishing in 11th place having won just nine games across the year, Carlton fell well short of their lofty pre-season expectations, while off-field storylines and inconsistent performances kept the Blues well and truly in the limelight.
With coach Michael Voss under heat for much of the season, a number of injuries and most recently, the outgoings of top players in Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni, the club found itself under the microscope for much of ’25, and while the season has come to a close, the Blues have hardly caught a break from the media onslaught.
Ahead of what is destined to be a major off-season for the club in their hunt for a return to top level football, the club captain expressed his disappointment in the manner of which the year transpired, however referencing his optimism as the club moves forward.
“It definitely felt clunky,” Cripps told carltonfc.com.au.
“I think that’s the word I’ve used to describe most of the season. There haven’t been too many years I’ve been a part of since ‘Vossy’ (Michael Voss joined) that we haven’t got momentum at some point.
“I felt like this year we struggled to get momentum; the only time we really got it was the last four games. The positive is that it’s nice to finish that way, but in a lot of the boys’ reflections there’s a fair bit of disappointment.
“I’m always an optimist, but it was hard. I found it really challenging at certain times because I suppose you become outcome focused.
“That’s where it really turned in the last four or five weeks; we really brought a lot of energy to the place when there wasn’t a lot of energy outside, which I think was a big lesson for us as leaders but also as a playing group that we can create our own energy.
“When we did that, we played with a lot of freedom, a lot of joy and as a result everyone started to love watching us play again.”
Weitering went on to speak on the nature of player movement and the expected changes commencing over the offseason.
Amid talks of star key forward Charlie Curnow’s desire to leave the club, both Weitering and Cripps referenced stability as a key factor in building a successful environment.
“The nature of the game is movement,” Weitering said.
“Across our journey so far, we’ve had a lot of movement - we’ve preached stability over the last three or four years.
“I think naturally as a player and as a leader, you want to feel connected, you want to feel safe, you want to feel trusted, and trust is bloody hard to build at this level. It’s very very easy to lose.
“We’ve got to have some absolute alignment on where we want to go and what our purpose is. The obvious ones are premierships and wins, but what do we want this club to look like on the inside? What does our culture want to look like, how do we want to act and feel amongst each other?
“Even in the last game against Essendon, the win and the post-room celebrations, the moments we spend in the locker room together, they’re the things that you’ll remember.
“We’ve had a few retirement speeches of recent and they’re the things that they talk about. Who we have come day one of pre-season will be the guys that we stick with and do a job with going forward.
“There’ll be a few guys that will come in and help us out, for sure.”
“You want to create an environment where people love coming to work, but there was also an edge there that you’ve got to understand why we’re here too,” Cripps added.
“When you get people pulling in the right direction with good energy, but you don’t compromise your standards on the field… (the results start to reflect).
“We’ve been a part of some teams over the last few years where that’s been clicking and that feeling is addictive, so when you don’t get that from an on-field point of view, you’re always searching for the way forward.
“That’s where the priority is right now, and as always, move forward with optimism.”
One of the major talking points within the walls at IKON Park this season was the decision to back in coach Michael Voss.
The Blues’ results across the year were far from ideal, however the club’s board and incoming CEO Graham Wright opted to stick with Voss, a decision that appears to be a popular one amongst the playing group.
Weitering: “It’s a tough job, being the head coach of a big club like ours.
“The way he’s handled himself both as a coach and as a person this year under a lot of pressure, a lot of talk outside of the club (was great).
“We talk about stability and our time at the club, when things have gotten hard and the pressure’s come on, at times we’ve made changes.
“Personally, I think it was an excellent move for the club to back him in as head coach. As leaders, we spend a lot of time with him.”
Cripps: “I agree with you. I think he’s a great leader.
“One thing you always find out about people - in really tough times - how they lead, especially leaders. When the team’s going well, you just need to sit back and let it run. When it’s tough, you’ve got to show up.
“You’re the energy in the group, controlling the standards, trying to be solution based rather than pointing out the problem. There are all these things that go into it.
“I think the way he carried himself (was amazing). It was pretty extreme, what was going on in the middle part of the year, but he kept fronting up, kept leading strongly, challenged us, supported us – a good mix of that.
“(We held) some really honest conversations, and I felt like the last six weeks, he learnt a lot about the group as well in terms of the joy and the fun and excitement, harnessing a lot of the energy that we shifted.
“I reckon he really enjoyed his coaching in the last six weeks. That was great to see, and the boys enjoyed it. It is a tough job, but I think the more we talk about the expectation of that, the more we normalise it and realise that we’re a footy club.
“There’s a lot of stakeholders but at the end of the day we’re a footy club. We come in with the right energy, build the right habits, have the right standards.”
As the Blues prepare for major off-season change, the leaders of the club opened communications in what was a much-needed conversation for the club and fans alike, setting the standards ahead of a crucial response in 2026.
