THE PROSPECT of teaming up with Stephen Coniglio has crossed the mind of Patrick Cripps.
Not that the Carlton skipper is getting too excited just yet.
TEAM OF THE WEEK Who makes the cut?
However, the club's rapid turnaround in form throughout the second half of the season does have Cripps believing that the Blues are starting to become a destination club again.
Carlton has been heavily linked with the signature of this year's most prized free agent, Greater Western Sydney star Coniglio, with Cripps daring to dream of a tantalising potential partnership with his fellow West Australian onballer at Ikon Park in 2020.
Could Coniglio and Cripps be teammates next year? Picture: AFL Photos
However, for now, he's not getting carried away with the club's growing links to Coniglio.
"I've heard a fair bit of that stuff," Cripps said on Tuesday.
"It's one of those things. Anyone would be rapt to have Stephen Coniglio come to your door. He's a sensational player, so if he did come I'd be over the moon.
"But we'll see how that all pans out."
CONIGLIO LATEST Giants happy with situation
Carlton won five of its first seven games under David Teague, before suffering admirable defeats to premiership fancies West Coast and Richmond over the past fortnight.
That turnaround has brought a newfound energy to the club, which Cripps says was crucial to him signing a contract extension through to 2021 midway through last season.
Now, he believes that positivity will be key to luring players to Ikon Park this summer.
"You always hear that Carlton's a big club," Cripps said.
"You want to play at a big club and we've been starved of success.
"One of the reasons why I really wanted to re-sign is because when this thing turns, it's going to be really fun and pretty scary. I've felt that energy starting to turn over the last eight weeks.
"One of the other things when you re-sign at a big club like Carlton … once you do become attractive, people do want to come and play for you.
"That's what I'm really excited about over the next couple of years."
Find AFL Exchange on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts and Spotify.
Cripps, who will play his 100th AFL game this weekend when Carlton meets St Kilda, has not yet been consulted on potential targets ahead of this year's NAB AFL Trade Period.
However, as the club's co-captain alongside Sam Docherty, the superstar midfielder says he will be open to having conversations on the issue once the season ends.
"There are certain times where you might have a role," Cripps said.
"It's more of the list management team, with (recruiting manager) Stephen Silvagni and (list manager) Mick Agresta. They do a lot of the heavy lifting.
"If you need to have your say, then you have it, but it's pretty hard to do that in-season when you're trying to perform at a high level. You're more focused on that."
