Northampton’s Patrick Cripps thanks parents for unwavering support of AFL dreams during 2006-2007 drought

Northampton’s golden boy has paid tribute to the farming town where his glittering football career began and his supportive parents for “showing up every day” even in the throes of drought. The Mid West community is brimming with pride after Carlton captain Patrick Cripps, 27, had his name written into the AFL history books on Sunday night after winning the 2022 Brownlow Medal. Cripps — who narrowly won with 29 votes in a nail-biting count which saw him pip Brisbane’s Lachie Neale at the post in the final round — said he was “absolutely pumped” with the honour. “I don’t know whether to laugh or cry,” he said. “I loved footy growing up as a kid. I still remember being at boarding school back in WA and I always asked my mum to ‘make sure you sign me out and give me leave on Brownlow night’ because I used to love watching it. “My older brother Daniel used to sign me out and we used to watch it together. It’s unbelievable. It’s a massive honour.” Cripps, who grew up on a farm in the town 500km north of Perth — which has produced some of the AFL’s biggest talents and unveiled a statue of the star earlier this year — said it was a “big part of his life”. The town of about 800 was where the icon cut his teeth in the game he loves, representing the green and gold for the Northampton Rams. In his acceptance speech, the Blues midfielder thanked his parents Cath and Brad for giving him the best “upbringing possible,” through some incredibly challenging times in the agricultural industry. The Cripps, who have since sold their cropping enterprise, were among one of many WA farming families hit in 2006 by one of the worst droughts in Australia’s history. That year, Northampton recorded just 185mm of rain, a mere fraction of the region’s 480mm average, followed by 276mm in 2007. “Farming’s tough — it has its good years and its bad years,” Cripps said. “I actually sat down with my old man and talked about the drought in ’06 and 07, and just talked about the mental toll he went through then... it gave me appreciation for what my parents went through. “They gave me the opportunity not only to play AFL, but they put me through school and I probably didn’t realise how tough that time was because my parents just showed up every day.” His father coached him as a junior, supporting his dreams year-in, year-out, day-in and day-out, during the drought. “I still thought he was the same person through 2006-2007,” Cripps said. “But to him, it was pretty tough during those times, so I have a lot of appreciation for both of my parents. “I look back now, as I got older and have a bit more appreciation... I realised how much they did for us as kids.” Cripps had the glamorous crowd at the ceremony in stitches, sharing a funny anecdote about the time, as a five-year-old, he drove a car through his parent’s garage after he was told off for putting his hand near an auger during seeding. “Any farmer would tell you it’s not the smartest thing to do,” he said, laughing. “I went home and I said, ‘look I’m getting out of here’. The Land Cruiser was a manual, I started it up and through the garage, there we go. Probably not the smartest moment of my life.” Cripps was snapped up by Carlton in the first round of the 2013 AFL Draft as a teenager, making his debut in round four of 2014. He has since forged a formidable career, named back-to-back club MVP in 2015 and 2016 and becoming the youngest three-time John Nicholls Medal winner in the club’s history by 2019. The 190cm powerhouse has also been named an All-Australian twice (2018 and 2019), and won the AFL Players’ Association Most Valuable Player award in 2019. His latest accolade places him as the ninth West Australian to claim the game’s highest individual honour, joining the esteemed list of fellow WA Brownlow Medallists Nat Fyfe, Matt Priddis, Ben Cousins, Simon Black, Shane Woewodin, Brad Hardie, Ross Glendinning and Graham Moss. Northampton AFL products