Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
Cripps excited about Silvagni’s looming return as Blues enter pre-season grind
Lachlan Geleit, SEN • December 12th, 2024 1:27 pm
Carlton captain Patrick Cripps has loved the energy that Jack Silvagni is bringing this pre-season.
The tall utility ruptured his ACL last January which caused him to miss the entire 2024 campaign.
After spending almost 12 months on the sidelines, Silvagni is beginning to integrate back with the main group at Carlton training and Cripps expects him and some of his other injured teammates to make a full return in January as they tune up for the 2025 season.
“He (Silvagni) is doing well, he's still in the rehab group but he's starting to integrate back into training. He looks fit and has high energy,” Cripps told SEN Breakfast.
“A lot of the guys came back in really good condition which you always hope is the case, you try to set a high standard as a leader to make sure the boys have done the work.
“But the rehab group's pretty small at the moment, which is good. We’ve got a lot of guys attacking their training as we head up to Queensland next week for a four-day camp.
“December's a month where you get the work, but January's the month where you really crank it up.
“So, a lot of these guys in the rehab group will be back in January and then you probably got a four-to-six-week block to get yourself fine-tuned to the practice matches.”
With the playing group firing, Carlton coach Michael Voss was able to enjoy some time away from Australia as he spent the last fortnight in the UK on a personal development trip that included attending Tottenham’s 1-1 draw with Fulham where he linked up with Spurs manager Ange Postecoglou.
Having recently returned from that trip abroad, Cripps says Voss is refreshed and chomping at the bit to get stuck into his preparations for 2025.
“He (Voss) is back, he got back on Sunday night and he was in first thing on Monday,” Cripps said.
“I asked him if he was jet-lagged, but he was chomping at the bit.
“He's ready to go, he'll be up in Queensland and loves getting back there obviously spending a lot of time up there.
“We got into him a bit for missing the first week, but I think he hardly had any break over his off-season. It’s pretty full on now for coaches with the draft, the trade period and all of that.”
Carlton begins their 2025 campaign with a Round 1 clash against Richmond at the MCG on Thursday, March 13.
