Mid West players in AFL finals: Northampton’s Patrick Cripps and Towns’ Jack Martin bow out of flag race

The AFL finals campaign for two Mid West players came to an end of Saturday, when Carlton — featuring Northampton’s Patrick Cripps and Towns’ Jack Martin — fell short to Brisbane in the preliminary final. Cripps and Martin were the final two Mid West players in the finals, but bowed out in the 9.9 (63) to 11.13 (79) loss to Brisbane at the Gabba. The Blues came in as the underdogs as the Lions hadn’t lost at the Gabba all season. As the game began, Carlton had control with the first goal of the game coming within a minute, followed up by a Martin behind not long after. The Blues started piling on the score in the first quarter, with Martin’s run-down tackle on Eric Hipwood on Carlton’s 50 earning him a free kick and an shot on goal. Carlton made their presence felt early, kicking five goals straight to take a 23-point lead into quarter-time. After a dominant first quarter, the Blues struggled to score as Brisbane started kicking goals, soon taking the lead. Cripps slotted a late goal before the half but that was Carlton’s only goal in the quarter, and they went into the main break down by three points. Brisbane started running away with the game as they kicked 3.3 in the third to the Blues 0.4. Fourth-quarter goals from both Cripps and Martin came as Carlton attempted a comeback, but it was all too late and Brisbane won by 16 points, earning the right to play Collingwood on the final Saturday in September. In their first campaign of September footy, Cripps and Martin helped Carlton reach their first preliminary final since 2000. Before this finals campaign, Cripps had the unenviable streak of most games played for the club without a final. The Blues captain had some stand-out performances during the fairy-tale run, with his best game coming in the win against Melbourne when he earned himself four coaches’ votes. However, he struggled in the Brisbane loss, as Josh Dunkley won the match-up and held him to only 13 disposals, four marks, six tackles, four clearances. Still, last year’s Brownlow medallist had some moments with two big goals. For Martin, he missed out on the semifinal clash due to the one match suspension he received during the Sydney win for a medium contact hit. During the two finals he appeared in, the former Bulldog kicked 4.1, making him the Blues’ leading scorer for the finals, even with one less game played. Martin kicked 2.1 against Brisbane, with 10 disposals to his name with two marks, four tackles and one clearance. Blowing a 30-point first-quarter lead is a rough finals loss, but it was still a stand-out season for Carlton, who went from 15th on the ladder with just four wins after round 13 to making their first finals since 2013, and then going on to make their first prelim since 2000.