Essendon chief executive Craig Vozzo said Tapping’s health and wellbeing was the priority.

“As committed and unselfish as Dale is, it is important that he puts himself and his family first at this time, and we will be with him every step of the way,” Vozzo said.

Tapping said the club and players had been “fantastic” since learning of the diagnosis.

“I’m very grateful given our current situation to come to work in an environment where 45 players and staff are chasing the best version of themselves,” he said.

Tapping said he was hopeful doctors had identified the disease early.

“When it tells you there’s something wrong, go and get checked,” he said. “I’m extremely hopeful that we grabbed hold of it at the right time and I stand a greater chance to live a long healthy life.”

Tapping previously held coaching roles at Collingwood and then the Brisbane Lions, and was an in-demand coach when Essendon signed him in 2021 as he sought to return to Victoria.

Cripps to give De Koning clear air to make contract call

Jon Pierik

Carlton skipper Patrick Cripps has declared he wants emerging ruckman Tom De Koning to remain a Blue, but will give him all the time he needs to determine his future.

De Koning shapes as one of the most coveted out-of-contract players this season. At 23, the athletic ruckman-forward has played only 41 matches and has tremendous potential, and could command a significant payday should he flourish early in the season.

His manager Robbie D’Orazio, of Connors Sports, told The Age last month he wanted to see where De Koning fitted in this season before a call was made, particularly as Harry McKay and Charlie Curnow are the key marking talls, while the robust Marc Pittonet is the frontline ruckman.

Cripps said De Koning, who has been linked to St Kilda, Essendon, Sydney and even Hawthorn, would be given the space needed to make a call.

“I am big on this - I just let players do it in their own time. I was the same - when I signed my last contract, I didn’t do it until the middle of the year,” Cripps said.

“They are big life choices. We love him as a player, as a bloke, and we try and support him. But he will make that decision when the time is right for him.

“I would love to keep him because I know what he can bring. You always love a good ruckman when you are a midfielder. He will make the best decision for himself but, as a club, we support him as a person.”

The Blues also enjoy support of their own, but that will be tested this year should a long rebuild not at least culminate in the termination of a decade-long finals drought which has meant Cripps, 28 this month, has yet to feature in September.

That drought was on the cusp of ending last year, but a terrible August when the Blues lost all four of their final games meant they slipped out of the top eight on the final afternoon of the home-and-away season after a stinging one-point loss to Collingwood. They had been in the eight all season to that point.

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Poor on-field decisions late in that defeat to the Magpies - whether going forward, or defending on the rebound - proved costly, prompting an off-season fine-tuning of how to handle critical moments.

Cripps, the 2022 Brownlow Medallist, said in the Blues’ favour was that this summer they already had a strong grasp of coach Michael Voss’ game plan.

“I think just having a stable base to build off is different to this time last year. Last year we were still at the initial stage of learning a new game plan and didn’t know exactly what we were going to expect,” he said.

“We have got a brand now that we want to play - we just keep fine-tuning that, and as a group keep evolving, maturing, leadership keeps growing on ground … the situations we are faced with, that’s where are growth is going to come from. We have done a lot of work on that over the pre-season. Now it’s just, you do all the work, now you just want to do it on the game day.”

Cripps trained on Thursday, insisting the ankle he hurt in a practice match is fine, and that he is “fit and firing” ahead of next Thursday’s season opener against Richmond.

Sam Walsh is lifting his training loads after back surgery, and Cripps said his fellow onballer had put in some “massive” sessions. The expectation is that Walsh is still likely to return to senior football around round five.

“He is going well, but he won’t rush himself, he wants to come back when he is fully fit and firing and playing high-level footy like he always does. He is training really well, feels really good, so he is really optimistic with the progress he is making,” Cripps said.

Defender Mitch McGovern, also off contract, and the enigmatic Jack Martin took part in a practice match against Port Melbourne at Ikon Park on Thursday. McGovern played an intra-club match last weekend, rather than the official practice match against the Swans, so he could be with his partner for the birth of their child. He has had a minor back issue, while Martin has battled a calf problem.