Cripps stars in Blues’ big win over North

Carlton captain Patrick Cripps has produced another monster performance to lead the Blues to a convincing 50-point AFL win over North Melbourne.

Cripps led from the front with 35 disposals and 10 clearances to have a huge say in the 17.12 (114) to 10.4 (64) victory on Saturday night at Marvel Stadium.

The powerful on-baller collected 18 contested possessions as the star in a blue-chip midfield that dominated the centre square.

Matthew Kennedy (24 disposals, 11 clearances), Adam Cerra (26 and six) and Sam Walsh (29 and four) all played key roles in the engine room.

Twin towers Harry McKay (four goals) and Charlie Curnow (three) proved a handful in attack and Adam Saad (25 disposals) was superb at half-back.

Patrick Cripps (right) and Harry McKay celebrate a goal for the Blues. Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images

Blues coach Michael Voss was thrilled with the “complete performance” that lifted his side to a 5-2 record and was rapt with Cripps’ leadership.

“He’s extremely hungry, as a few boys are, and we’re committed with this direction that we’re going in,” Voss said.

“That hope that we had is starting to turn into some belief in the way that we’re going about it.

“Now for us the challenge is, ‘how do we provide that consistency week in week out and throughout quarters?’.

“(Tonight) was a complete performance and we stuck at it for longer.”

North Melbourne’s Jy Simpkin (22 disposals) and Jason Horne-Francis (20) battled against the tide and Nick Larkey kicked three goals.

But the Kangaroos lost debutant Miller Bergman to a shoulder injury before halftime as they crashed to a fifth-straight defeat.

Carlton debutant Jack Carroll booted the first goal of the match with his first kick, nailing a quick snap from close range to trigger a five-goal opening term from the Blues.

Cameron Zurhaar kicked two of North’s three quick goals that levelled the scores early in the second term before the Blues broke the game open with a seven-goal third quarter.

Tempers flared several times after the main break and the intensity kicked up a notch when Liam Stocker landed a huge bump on North livewire Tarryn Thomas.

Jack Silvagni tangled with Jason Horne-Francis and Larkey is likely to find himself in trouble with the match review officer for tunnelling Blues defender Lewis Young.

Carlton got on with the job and key defender Jacob Weitering brought the navy blue faithful to their feet when he kicked a rare goal on the end of a 50-metre penalty.

It came as the Blues extended an eight-point halftime lead to 40 at the final change, putting North out of the contest.

Kangaroos coach David Noble lamented the third-quarter lapse but saw the first, second and fourth terms as a step forward for his developing group.

“The battle tonight was heaps better for us, the intent and the way that we battled for that ball,” he said.