In front of a modest crowd against Melbourne at the MCG in round four, the winless Blues had opted to unveil their first pick, No.13 overall, of the 2013 national draft. Coach Mick Malthouse had given Cripps some warning about what to expect.

"Mick actually said to me, 'It's going to be quick out there so make sure you make quick decisions'," he said.

"My first touch I got a handball. My second one I got run down. It was holding the ball. [Jay] Kennedy-Harris got me - he is a lot quicker than me."

And what did Malthouse say later? "He had a joke to me after that."

Cripps showed enough on what was a dirty day for the Blues - they would slump to their fourth straight defeat - to more than justify his selection. He would finish with 17 disposals, including eight contested, and five tackles in 94 minutes of game time.

He would only manage another two senior games - logging a combined 93 minutes - largely due to a fractured fibula, which sidelined him for seven games. The Blues were keen to ease him through his maiden voyage and he finished runner-up in the Northern Blues' best and fairest.

"Your dream is to debut and I was able to do that. It was disappointing having the injury in the middle of the year, which put you back a few places and when you came back you are playing catch-up with your fitness base," Cripps said.

"I developed a few things in the AFL that I needed to work on. Hopefully the pre-season this year sets up a good platform for going into the 2015 season."

Perhaps his greatest impression came post-season when he returned home to the family farm in Northhampton, Western Australia, and hired his own running coach. Typically, it takes a handful of years for youngsters to embrace the discipline, work and harsh self-assessment required to be an elite player. Not so with Cripps.

"That was the thing that probably got him last year and held him back a bit, just becoming a little bit more dynamic, a little bit more powerful," Blues midfield coach Dean Laidley said.

"The biggest thing he did over the break - everyone gets their programs - he walked in and he was unrecognisable [after the holiday break]. He had trimmed down. He went and saw a running coach in Perth, all off his own bat. He walks back in the door - straight away you know the kid wants to play, he wants to improve."

Dubbed "The Extractor" by the Blues on his drafting, but lovingly referred to at home as "Big Bush Pig" because of his love of pig hunting, one of Cripps' key objectives is to improve his dash outside of stoppages.

"He is slowly building his tank and he is getting there," Laidley said.

"All of his running times are much improved. His body is now allowing him to do his work on the inside and run and spread from the inside out, which is tough to do, and get some uncontested footy.

"Working with him in the midfield this pre-season, I have been really pleased with his development and his growth as a player and a person. We can't expect super big things from him, but I think he will have an impact.

"In some of the scrimmage play we have been doing, we have put him with [Chris] Judd and [Bryce] Gibbs on the inside to work with those better players and I think that has also helped him blossom as well."

Ask Cripps about Judd, and his face immediately lights up. Judd, after all, was his idol growing up as a West Coast Eagles supporter during their heady grand final days.

"One thing Juddy said to me when I first got drafted is your strength as an under-18 footballer is going to be your strength down the track," Cripps said.

At 193 centimetres - a tad taller than North Melbourne bull Jack Ziebell - Cripps, yet to kick a goal in the seniors, hopes another strength becomes his ability to be a third marking target inside 50. As he says, versatility is one of the keys to being an efficient modern footballer.

"He is a big boy," Laidley said. "He can actually mark the footy. He actually reminds me a little of Jack Ziebell, but just a little bit taller.

"He has a lot of grunt and does his best work inside but can go forward and mark the footy."

Brock McLean's departure has opened a spot in the midfield, although the Blues are encouraged there is likely to be a fierce battle among several players pushing to work alongside skipper Marc Murphy, a healthy Dale Thomas, Judd and Gibbs.

"There is probably Cripps, [Tom] Bell, [Nick] Graham, they are all up against each other," Laidley said. "Bell made some strides last year. He has got some strengths but he has got some things to work on, and so has Nick Graham. They are probably a little bit front of 'Crippa' in regards to their preparation but we couldn't be more pleased.

"He has really added just with his character and the way he goes about it. For young players to go across in their break and do what he did is a real signal that here is a kid who is talented, a first-round pick, and he made some strides last year, had some injuries, missed a pretty big chunk of footy, but he has said: 'This is the player I want to be, I want to go and do that.'

"He has come back and fast-tracked his own development, which I think is a mark of a great person."