So what is making this season such a strong one for him?

DraftStar spoke to Kreuzer during the week and he was adamant that getting a full pre-season has played a big part in his strong start to the season.

“It was very important for me to get a full pre-season in. Obviously only playing half a season last year and coming off 12 months out of the game, I needed to get as much footy training and conditioning in as I could, and having a full pre-season gave me the confidence I needed for this year.”

Kreuzer admits that it was tough realizing he was on the long term injury list.

“It was pretty hard knowing I was going to be out for 12 months and missing playing finals, but we had a plan. I knew where I was at with rehab and I had goals in place, with running and joining in during training – that made the time go quicker.”

When asked about his goals for the season, the answers were easy.

“Play finals footy, play a full year of footy and keep developing on things I need to work on.”

We then asked just how much his role in the team changes from week to week

“It changes a fair bit because you have to play different roles all the time. You can be in the ruck for 5 minutes, then forward - you have to adapt pretty quickly. It's important that you can play a number of roles - you can't just play one position in this day and age.”

Why did you decide to get involved with Draftstar?

“It's a great opportunity for kids to develop their footy/personal skills and help give them every opportunity to get the most out of themselves. And if I can pass on any advice that might help kids then I want to do that.”

And if Matthew Kreuzer wanted to get just one message across, it would be:

“Never stop learning. You can always get better, but you have to work for it if you want it.”

Matthew Kreuzer is part of DraftStar, who will be running football camps in Victoria in the July school holidays. You might see him there!

Find out more at www.draftstar.com.au