Cripps stays wanted at Blues amid talk out west

PATRICK Cripps remains on track to re-sign with Carlton despite West Australian interest and a form slump that saw him battling a back injury earlier in the season.

Cripps has recovered from the back issue that was similar to Lachie Neale’s back fracture at Brisbane, with a piece of the vertebrae cracking after an onfield collision.

But like Neale, those injuries cannot get worse and are only about managing pain with injections before they improve over 4-6 weeks.

Cripps, pictured, is now fully fit and regularly training after those issues, with coach David Teague saying yesterday: “Cripper is in great shape right now”.

But he struggled to make an impact in the loss to the Western Bulldogs and started the third term on the bench.

Free agent Cripps is determined to sign a contract at his own pace.

But his partner has recently started a new job in Melbourne.

West Coast this week mocked a report that Cripps could land at West Coast if the Eagles could trade out bestand-fairest winner Elliot Yeo.

Yeo is battling osteitis pubis, with Eagles football boss Craig Vozzo laughing off those reports about the star,.

The Eagles players all took pay cuts over the summer after the league brokered a new pay deal.

Some player managers say it was under the specific condition the Eagles would not use that money to bring in other players. Others say the Eagles did it on the condition if they were to bring in high-profile players they would ask the Eagles list.

Teague said yesterday of his captain: “He’s fine. He doesn’t have a fractured back. He had a sore back at the start of the year, I’m not sure what the actual findings were. But he’s been completing full training since Round 3, it’s not an issue now, everything is healed.

“He’s completing all training, he’s playing strong and that’s what we want.”

Teague admitted the club’s defence let it down in the loss to the Western Bulldogs, with this week’s opponent Melbourne presenting another massive challenge.

The Blues’ defensive systems did not seem to absorb the weight of inside 50s late, but Teague said the team’s ball movement didn’t help.

“I want to see us compete hard, move the ball quickly and defend with more intent. Our defence hasn’t been good enough,” he said.

Zac Williams is available after appearing proppy with his ongoing achilles issues and Teague admitted he hadn’t set the world on fire in his first season at Carlton.