SECOND-year midfielder Patrick Cripps has capped an outstanding season by winning Carlton's best and fairest award in a nail-biting count on Thursday night.
Cripps, who finished second to Jesse Hogan in last week's NAB AFL Rising Star award, won the John Nicholls Medal with 68 votes, just one ahead of Blues captain Marc Murphy, with defender Zach Tuohy a further three votes behind in third.
Recruited by the Blues with pick No.13 in the 2013 NAB AFL Draft, Cripps showed glimpses of his huge potential in his debut season, but a broken leg limited him to three senior games.
After a strong 2015 pre-season, the former East Fremantle player quickly established himself in Carlton's best 22 this year.
At 193cm and 90kg, Cripps is the prototypical modern inside midfielder.
Already an imposing figure at stoppages, the 20-year-old averaged 23.6 possessions from 20 games in 2015 (ranked second at Carlton, behind Murphy), 13.7 contested possessions (equal eighth in the AFL) and 6.7 clearances (equal 12th in the AFL).
Carlton football boss Andrew McKay said Cripps' best and fairest honour was a testament to his "relentless" work ethic and determination to improve.
"It's well documented that in the off-season he went away and hired his own running coach and returned at the end of pre-season fitter, stronger and with the kind of attitude that we just knew he would be in for a big year," McKay said.
"The way Patrick has gone about it, and the leadership he has shown along the way, makes him a real role model to the other young players in our team.
"We know he has a big future and we look forward to him wearing the navy blue jumper for a long time to come."
Murphy's second-placing was his fourth runner-up finish in the John Nicholls Medal, with his sole win coming in 2011.
The Blues skipper averaged a club-high 26.8 possessions in his 19 games this year, and provided invaluable on-field leadership in a difficult season.
Tuohy's third-place finish was a career-high, with the Irishman's previous best result seventh in 2013.
The voting system involves five members of Carlton's match committee independently submitting their votes after each round.
Each may award a maximum of 20 votes, to be shared among the players of their choice, and committee members are not compelled to award all or any of their votes.
Carlton best and fairest top 10
1. Patrick Cripps 68 votes
2. Marc Murphy 67
3. Zach Tuohy 64
4. Tom Bell 57
4. Ed Curnow 57
6. Sam Docherty 48
7. Kade Simpson 45
8. Andrejs Everitt 37
9. Simon White 35
10. Andrew Carrazzo 23
