However, there were no such problems for Carlton ruckman Matthew Kreuzer on Sunday afternoon at Etihad Stadium.
In his second appearance for the Blues since returning from almost 12 months on the sidelines following a knee reconstruction, Kreuzer was the driving force behind his team's impressive 34-point victory over the Sydney Swans.
After Carlton trailed by 18 points mid-way through the opening quarter, the 22-year-old rose to the challenge, booting two goals and helping the Blues snatch the lead by the first change.
Having used his tremendous athleticism to outplay and outrun Swans duo Shane Mumford and Mark Seaby, Kreuzer ended the match with 24 possessions, 13 hit-outs and seven tackles.
"He was the best player on the ground today," Carlton coach Brett Ratten emphatically stated after the game.
"I thought his second and third efforts, and the way he follows up and cracks in, were just outstanding."
Ratten was proud of the way Kreuzer shouldered the bulk of the ruckwork in the second half (he was supported in the role by key forward Lachie Henderson) after fellow big man Shaun Hampson went down with a knee injury.
"Second-up he did a mighty job today when Shaun got injured," Ratten said. "He had to play longer game-time and he was just brilliant.
"It would've been really tough if it was just [Kreuzer] to shoulder the whole lot.
"But we got to use both players and Matthew probably did 80 to 85 per cent of the ruckwork after Shaun went down."
Kreuzer - the number one pick in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft - was more circumspect about his effort against the Swans.
"I've still got a bit of work to do," he said. "I'm slowly getting there and hopefully I can continue to improve each week.
"I've done a fair bit of running over the time … but I've still got a little bit to do on the match-fitness side of it.
"I started blowing up in the second half a bit, but that will come in the next couple of weeks hopefully."
