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Matthew Kreuzer
Matthew Kreuzer
	Kreuzer playing for Carlton in June 2017
Personal information
Full name	Matthew Kreuzer
Date of birth	13 May 1989 (age 35)
Original team(s)	Northern Knights (TAC Cup)
Draft	No. 1 (PP), 2007 National Draft, Carlton
Height	200 cm (6 ft 7 in)
Weight	101 kg (223 lb)
Position(s)	Ruckman / Forward
Playing career1
Years	Club
2008–2020	Carlton
	1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020.
Career highlights
	Morrish Medal 2007; 2008 AFL Rising Star nominee;
	Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Matthew Kreuzer (born 13 May 1989) is a retired professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He was selected first overall pick in the 2007 AFL Draft. He announced his retirement in September 2020.

Junior career

Kreuzer played for St Mary's Greensborough Junior Football Club, part of the Yarra Junior Football League,^[1] in Melbourne's north as a junior, before moving to the Northern Knights to play under-18s football in the TAC Cup in 2006 and 2007. Kreuzer established himself as both the team's No. 1 ruckman and as a key forward during that time, scoring 51 goals in his 33 games with the Knights. In 2007, he won the Morrish Medal and the Knights' best and fairest, and he was selected in the Victorian Metropolitan and All-Australian under-18s teams, and in the TAC Cup Teams of the Year in both 2006 and 2007.

Noted for possessing a level of agility and endurance unusual for a player of his size, Kreuzer was widely expected to be selected early in the 2007 AFL Draft.^[2] He was selected by Carlton with its priority draft pick (No. 1 overall) in the draft;^[3] Carlton received that draft pick only after losing its final round match against Melbourne in 2007, a controversial match which became known as the Kreuzer Cup.

Professional career

Kreuzer made his AFL debut in Round 3 of the 2008 season against Essendon at the MCG on 5 April 2008, impressing on debut and scoring a goal with his first kick. He played largely as the second ruckman through the early part of the season. He earned a NAB Rising Star nomination in his ninth game (against Port Adelaide), after moving into the forward-line in the final quarter and scoring three goals, which helped Carlton overcome a 30-point deficit in wet conditions; he would ultimately poll eleven votes to finish fourth for the award. Towards the end of the season, Kreuzer was playing both ruck and forward roles. He was noted for his accuracy in front of goal, scoring 13 goals and only one behind in his debut season.

Kreuzer played all twenty-three games in his second season, again sharing ruck duties and spending some time in the forward-line, again scoring thirteen goals. He finished fifth in the John Nicholls Medal. Kreuzer continued as one of the club's top two ruckmen in 2010, and he played his 50th AFL game in Round 7.

In Round 13, 2010, after 56 consecutive games from debut, Kreuzer ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament after landing awkwardly in a marking contest. He had a conventional knee reconstruction, and missed eleven months of football,^[4] returning to VFL football in May 2011 and to Carlton in Round 12, 2011.^[5] He played every game for the rest of the 2011 home-and-away season, but after 12 months out of the game was well below his best, polling best-and-fairest votes only once.^[6]

In 2017, Kreuzer had a career best season only missing one game. He was selected in the initial 40-man All Australian squad and finished third in Carlton's best and fairest.

Before the beginning of the 2018 season it was announced that Kreuzer would be part of Carlton's new leadership group for the first time in his career.^[7]

At the end of the 2018 season, Kreuzer had relinquished his position in the leadership group, along with Alex Silvagni and Lachlan Plowman.^[8]

In the opening round of the 2020 AFL season against Richmond, Kreuzer suffered a foot injury which initially ruled him out for three to four months, but he did not play again and announced his retirement, with immediate effect, on 10 September 2020.^[9] Following his retirement, Kreuzer was appointed ruck coach at Carlton in December 2020.^[10]

Personal life

His father is of Dutch heritage.^[11]

Outside of football, Kreuzer is a civil engineer.

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of round 1, 2020^[12]

**Legend**
G	Goals	K	Kicks	D	Disposals	T	Tackles
B	Behinds	H	Handballs	M	Marks	H/O	Hit-outs


Season	Team	No.	Games	Totals								Averages (per game)								Votes
Season	Team	No.	Games	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	H/O	G	B	K	H	D	M	T	H/O	Votes
2008	Carlton	8	20	13	1	96	99	195	59	45	183	0.7	0.1	4.8	5.0	9.8	3.0	2.3	9.2	1
2009	Carlton	8	23	13	11	123	197	320	73	71	394	0.6	0.5	5.3	8.6	13.9	3.2	3.1	17.1	1
2010	Carlton	8	13	5	4	65	94	159	29	62	239	0.4	0.3	5.0	7.2	12.2	2.2	4.8	18.4	1
2011	Carlton	8	12	7	7	66	74	140	27	44	148	0.6	0.6	5.5	6.2	11.7	2.3	3.7	12.3	3
2012	Carlton	8	20	10	8	146	97	243	60	66	450	0.5	0.4	7.3	4.9	12.2	3.0	3.3	22.5	3
2013	Carlton	8	17	8	11	116	79	195	56	71	428	0.5	0.6	6.8	4.6	11.5	3.3	4.2	25.2	6
2014	Carlton	8	1	0	0	9	5	14	3	0	13	0.0	0.0	9.0	5.0	14.0	3.0	0.0	13.0	0
2015	Carlton	8	13	9	5	91	75	166	40	55	276	0.7	0.4	7.0	5.8	12.8	3.1	4.2	21.2	3
2016	Carlton	8	21	7	8	136	95	231	46	84	429	0.3	0.4	6.5	4.5	11.0	2.2	4.0	20.4	0
2017	Carlton	8	21	12	12	206	115	321	69	107	665	0.6	0.6	9.8	5.5	15.3	3.3	5.1	31.7	5
2018	Carlton	8	12	5	5	99	60	159	24	41	276	0.4	0.4	8.3	5.0	13.3	2.0	3.4	23.0	1
2019	Carlton	8	15	5	5	127	69	196	30	34	467	0.3	0.3	8.5	4.6	13.1	2.0	2.3	31.1	3
2020	Carlton	8	1	0	0	0	1	1	1	1	7	0.0	0.0	0.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	1.0	7.0
Career			189	94	77	1280	1060	2340	517	681	3975	0.5	0.4	6.8	5.6	12.4	2.7	3.6	21.0	27

References

^ "YJFL Current AFL Players". Retrieved 21 June 2020.
^ Timms, Daryl. (2007) Kreuzer still the one by a mile. Herald Sun. Accessed:2007-10-08.
^ "Blues bubbling after top pick". Sportal. 24 November 2007. Archived from the original on 16 November 2007. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
^ Surgery for Matthew Kreuzer Archived 17 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine Carlton Football Club; Accessed 21 June 2010)
^ Hand, Guy (12 June 2011). "Carlton and Brisbane name substitutes". Herald Sun. Australia. Retrieved 12 June 2011.
^ "John Nicholls Medal voting". Carlton Football Club. 6 October 2011. Archived from the original on 17 November 2011. Retrieved 6 October 2011.
^ "Blues set new goals in attack: Kreuzer - AFL.com.au". afl.com.au. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
^ "Five elected to lead". carltonfc.com.au. Retrieved 12 December 2018.
^ AFL website announcement, 10 September 2020.
^ "Carlton appoints Kreuzer as ruck coach". carltonfc.com.au. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
^ "Why all clubs would love to land Kreuzer". Herald Sun. 10 November 2007. Retrieved 18 August 2017.
^ "Matthew Kreuzer". AFL Tables. Retrieved 11 April 2020.