Mid West stars Patrick Cripps and Jack Carroll pay homage to GNFL days during Carlton training

They are the Blues brothers from the Mid West who have not forgotten where they came from. The bond between Northampton superstar and Carlton captain Patrick Cripps and his young protege Jack Carroll has gone from strength to strength since Carroll was drafted by the Blues in 2020. The foundation of their connection is undoubtedly their Mid West roots, with Cripps one of the Northampton Rams’ favourite sons and Geraldton’s Carroll a product of the Chapman Valley Football Club. This week, they swapped their normal navy Blue for the colours of their boyhood clubs, as with the rest of the Carlton squad. Enjoying an early bye after two wins from their first two games, Carlton players turned up to a training session this week in their junior kits, with Cripps and Carroll paying tribute to their GNFL playing days. In a video of the pair posted to Carlton’s social media, the two Mid West stars shared the love with their former junior clubs and wished them luck for the upcoming GNFL season. “Shout out to the Valley, Chapman Valley footy club, gonna win the flag this year . . . Go Valley,” Carroll said. Cripps backed the Rams to go back-to-back after last year’s drought-breaking premiership. “Reigning premiers Mooniemia, good to have this jumper on, it’s always good to support our grassroots and we’re both proud to be from the GNFL but more importantly our clubs,” he said. “I love you guys, all the best for the year and let’s go back to back . . . go the Rams, lets go.” Carroll considers Cripps a mentor, while Carroll is like a “little brother” to Cripps. The pair spent a lot of the pre-season together putting the work in after Carroll reached out to Cripps for help to get to the next level. “I sat down with Crippa . . . we spoke about things that needed to go to another level, what we targeted was my speed and power, and that came from in the gym as well as some springs training in the off-season,” Carroll said to Carlton Media. “I spent most of my off-season with Crippa, and he also got me doing some programs outside of footy which are good for performance confidence. “I think he looks at me like a little brother, we’ve done a fair bit of work together now for a few years. He’s just happy to see it slowly paying off, and I feel like I’m more well-equipped now to play consistent footy.” It seems to have paid off for the bulkier fourth-year player, who came into the opening round as Carlton’s sub in its one-point win against Brisbane, and amassed 10 disposals and a goal in a half. He cracked into the side’s 22 in last week’s win over Richmond, notching a career-high 20 disposals. “Midfield is probably my best position, but we’ve got some pretty handy players in there, I’ve had to bide my time,” Carroll said. “To be honest, as soon as I was in the game, it didn’t feel different to any other game compared to other footy, I just felt like I belonged, but I was out there playing footy and focusing on the simple things.” Cripps has also been in fine form to start the season, racking up 31 disposals and 22km travelled in the win against the Tigers. Carlton have their first bye this weekend ahead of their round three clash against North Melbourne, which is the expected season debut for another Mid West star, Jack Martin, who has been sidelined with a knee injury.