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CARLTON coach Brett Ratten has revealed last weekend’s match winner, Matthew Kreuzer, nearly didn’t make the trip to Adelaide with the Blues’ match committee giving serious thought to resting the first overall pick in the 2007 NAB AFL Draft.
Ratten had foreshadowed an imminent spell for the 19-year-old after the round 10 loss to Geelong as he had started to show early signs of wear and tear, but Kreuzer’s three-goal final term turned out to be a key factor in the thrilling win over Port Adelaide.
“We did think about it. Our debate is that we’ve had a few injuries [to big men] along the way which have maybe not allowed us to do what we’d like to do, but looking forward, we’ll still rest him at some point going forward,” Ratten said.
“He’s a really level-headed kid and I just think it’s great to see his performance, which was pretty much a match-winning performance.
“He was one of the players who was down during the game. I think his three quarters before weren’t where he would like to be, but then to turn it around and do it the way he did it; I thought he showed everyone that he can play.
“Then it becomes [a matter] of self-belief across the board for himself and his teammates. He’s shown us glimpses throughout the year and pre-season, but this was just a fantastic quarter performance where he was out there for the full quarter and he played some great footy.”
The Blues’ coach said the extra break scheduled by the AFL for the Hall of Fame tribute match had proved to be a big positive in terms of player load management and he encouraged the league to investigate making two breaks per season a permanent part of the fixture.
“That sort of helps a few of the younger players get through and probably the older players from every team as well,” he said.
“It has assisted all players so maybe that might be something that the AFL will look at to help team lists gets through because we do lose a lot of players though the year through injury or general soreness or fatigue. [The break] does help every list in the competition.”
The Blues had managed just three goals in the first three quarters of the twilight match, but rallied home with seven goals to nil in the final term to record a famous victory.
In addition to the important role played by Kreuzer, Ratten was pleased with the overall team effort he received in the last quarter and particularly the performance of fellow No. 1 pick Bryce Gibbs in curbing the influence of Power game breaker Chad Cornes.
“I though that was an outstanding performance for a young man who, to be honest, was down the week before,” he said.
“I gave Bryce a bit of a rocket on his performance the week before, I thought it was well below par, but his performance on Chad Cornes was fantastic.
“For a young player to be given a job and respond the way he did just shows all the qualities that a good player does and he will be a good player in the future.”
