It wasn't meant to happen that way, but it did. While the recent turmoil at Carlton has taken a huge toll on the club, in many ways it's been the making of Cripps as a footballer and a leader, particularly the 2015 season.

In round eight, then coach Mick Malthouse was sacked after a string of terrible results, with a 77-point loss to Geelong the final straw.

Two weeks later, club icon and modern-day great Chris Judd was carried off the MCG with a season-ending knee injury; the last time he would be seen in a navy jumper.

Barely a month after that, Bryce Gibbs went down with a pectoral injury and suddenly Cripps was spearheading the Blues' midfield alongside Marc Murphy.

And - as if things couldn't get any worse - Murphy injures a shoulder in the round 21 win over Melbourne and is ruled out of the final two weeks of the season.

Carlton's last game of 2015, a 10-goal belting at the hands of Hawthorn, saw Cripps as Carlton's No.1 midfielder, playing in an engine room with Andrew Carrazzo, Ed Curnow, Nick Graham and David Ellard. Weeks later, he was confirmed as Carlton's youngest best-and-fairest winner since John Nicholls.

All of a sudden, Cripps was the light at the end of the tunnel for Carlton. It's barely been 18 months since that day, but Cripps has had to mature quickly.

"I think about it a lot," Cripps said. "Because we've had such a big list transformation ??? I look around and I feel like I'm above the median age of the group," he smiled.

"You look around and blokes are actually starting to look up to you which takes a while to sink in. They watch what you do, what kind of training habits you have and they follow. I find it a bit weird but it's something I've learnt to embrace."

Footballers are renowned for recognising and working on potential deficiencies in their game. Whether that be kicking for goal, working on their one-grab marking or becoming proficient on both feet, players are always fine-tuning their skills. For Cripps, there wasn't a whole lot to work on. At 22, his contested ball numbers rival the likes of Geelong champions Joel Selwood and Patrick Dangerfield and Fremantle captain Nat Fyfe at a similar age.

He's a superstar in the making. But Cripps took it upon himself after winning the B&F to seek help on an aspect of his football that he could no longer ignore - media.

"Definitely in the early days in the media I was nervous, probably because I wasn't used to it and I did a fair bit of work to improve it."

Cripps sought counsel from the club psychologist, the media team and even an outside source on not only how to deal with the ever-expanding media landscape, but communication in general. "We just got me in pressure situations, in mock interviews ??? the more you do it the better you get at it."

It's well known at Carlton that Murphy's successor as the next Blues captain will be a toss of the coin between Cripps and Sam Docherty. Judd, who was Blues captain for five seasons, elected to hand over the position to Murphy at the end of 2012, before playing out his final three seasons.

Murphy, who like Judd has played through injury for a long time now, is also heading into his fifth season as skipper and the time may soon come where the baton is passed on. Cripps, like he does so well on the field, was smart enough to read the play. He recognised that if he wanted to captain this football club one day, he had to act now. "I looked at it and said, if I want to be a leader around the club, then leaders do a lot of media so you sort of have to be good at it. I used to nearly resent doing media, because I got nervous, but now actually embrace it and don't mind it at all."

While Cripps has done extensive work with the Carlton media team, he's also done a lot of work with Carlton psychologist Anthony Klarica, who Brendon Bolton brought across with him from Hawthorn.

Cripps has become part of a special group of midfielders across four clubs who are set to take the competition by storm over the next decade, and admits he's been keeping an eye on fellow 2013 draftees.

Josh Kelly, taken at pick 2, Marcus Bontempelli (4) and Zach Merrett (26) have become midfield sensations at their clubs, with Cripps taken in between "The Bont" and Merrett with pick 13.

Kelly has emerged as a clearance machine, Merrett's foot skills are sublime and Bontempelli's poise is on another level.

What stands out about Cripps is his transformation off the field.

He's gone from an apprehensive teenager from country Western Australia who hated the sight of a camera or a microphone, to a measured and focused leader in the space of four years. And he doesn't shy away from that.

"I reckon good leaders look after their own backyard first. When you're a leader, the No. 1 thing is you have to play good footy.

"Then once you feel like you've got your own backyard covered you can start helping other guys. I've still got a lot of stuff I want to improve on, it's only my fourth season. But at the same time, the quicker I can drag blokes with me, the quicker we'll improve as a team."

Cripps is desperate to taste team success. He's never - not even as a junior in WA - won a premiership and he knows there is something special brewing at Princes Park.