Last week’s game may have disappointed us all, but the disappointment extended further at Mike & Dan Incorporated during the week when not one of us could come up with an outstanding piece of play by the Blues.  Perhaps the Bears/Lions just had our measure and controlled the game too well, but apart from some great leads and grabs from Fev, a brilliant all-round game from Murphy, a fine three quarters from Jamison and a lovely centre clearance by Matthew Kreuzer, we couldn’t really come up with much at all.  The problem was exacerbated when we chose Kreuzer, asked him about the clearance and even he couldn’t remember it…..

Matthew, great clearance in the second – nice tap and then gather, bomb out of the square…

Ahh…I really can’t remember that…

OK…the Play of the Week can be awarded for general excellence too y’know.  We make up the rules as we go along.  Tell us about the game? Why did we lose?

Well, Brisbane got the jump on us for sure, and took the game away.  The other quarters we felt as though we pegged them back and did better.  I thought our skills weren’t as good as previous weeks, so we’ll just have to keep practicing it.

Not many first year players are thrown in to ruck contests week after week. Are you finding it draining on your body?

Well the week off for the Hall of Fame Game helped a lot – I’d only played the 4 full games before that but the break was good for me.  It might not sound like a lot but I was sore at the end of the West Coast game – nothing specific, just sore from the matches.

Tell us about West Coast and playing against the man universally acknowledged as the best ruck in the land…

Cox is awesome.  Great ruckman, runs all day and his skills were just perfect.  On the night my role is as always just to beat them, but I tried to learn as much as I could against him.

Which ruckmen have you found the most difficult to play against? They say Charman is hard at it – have any set out to hurt you?

Definitely Cox. Charman is a great ruckman too, but no one has really been out there to hurt anyone.

How did you feel when the Krooooze chants first started going up in the crowd? Did you get any feedback from teammates about it?

I didn’t notice it at the start to be honest, but in the last few weeks it’s really become noticeable. I hear it every now and again during the game now which is great.

You began the first quarter deep in the forward line, yet were taking some centre rucks within a few minutes.  Was that all planned or just a change given how well Charman was going?

No, the moves were all planned.  We were expecting to get swapped around and the Runner came out to get me after a few minutes.

Is it still hard to believe that you're playing useful AFL football in your first season?

It’s a bit difficult to believe, but I’m loving it.  I’m learning heaps all of the time – I’m learning a lot from Steve McKee as Ruck Coach and also a lot from Cameron Cloke who I do a lot of my rucking practice with.  I often line up on Cam at training and he’s great with his advice and all the hard work he puts in.

In 5 years time do you see yourself as first ruck or a ruckman/forward ala Koschitske?

I wouldn’t have a clue at the moment!

Is there any talk about giving you a rest or 2 throughout the season so you don't burn out?  We believe that you & Hampson are the future, we want you to grow and lead the way....

Ratts has said a bit about that at the start of the year actually – he said to see how the body is feeling and if we need a rest, to say so, and just take it week by week.  The bye though has worked out really well for me.

You work so hard when the ball hits the deck - is it just your hunger for the contest, or is it something you focus on?  Were you always tall?

I’ve been tall all of my life! So I’ve played ruck all of my life and then having more and more time up as a forward.

Jamie Charman is a monster...  when you see how much bigger your opponent is, how do you plan for that? For instance, this week you'll be opposed to Sandilands - how do you plan on combating that?

I’m not too sure yet to be honest, we are having some more training tomorrow and later in the week on that.  Maybe I’ll try to run around him, but for sure he is the tallest out there. I know Hampson did well in the pre-season match, but Hampson has a much bigger leap than me – I’ve got to keep working on my leap at training.

This was your first game partnered with Ackland - how is he different from Cloke, and how does your partnership work differently than the Cloke/Kreuzer team?

Pretty much the same plan, really.  Ackland has been helpful as well – he’s the oldest and most experienced of the rucks on the list, and he’s been helpful.

Did the coaching staff play-up the weekends milestones?

They were recognized – Ratts put up some video of both Fev and Stevens.  They were both big achievements.

So tell us Matthew, which Number 8’s in Carlton’s history do you know?

Well there’s the 3 on the locker- Keogh, Blackwell – Luke’s father, and Whitnall.

For all players to have worn this jumper number over the years, check out the Blueseum

With Kreuzer refusing to name a fellow Blue who needed to cop a bucketing for his off-field behaviour, Mike & Dan had to ditch the question.  Next time perhaps we’ll have to ditch the question about this week’s Play of the Week if the player nominated can’t remember it too!  But we’ll keep persevering, to give you 22 player interviews even in weeks that are a bit tougher to watch than most…

CFC TV
Matthew Kreuzer's brilliant centre clearance is Mike and Dan's Play of the Week for Round 8.
Click here to view the video