It's time to talk the Kreuze.

[brazilblue]

I for one love him, always have.

He has shown loyalty, and is personally an awesome team orientated player ... those are his strengths.

But geez the guy was a number one draft pick and in all honesty I don't think he has done more than jack Watts.

It hurts to say because I really do love his other qualities but this looks like it was a wasted pick, in theworst possible way!

He is making too many schoolboy errors to change this late in the game.

Not sure what to say, by now I like everyone thought he would be a superstar ...... he is nothing at the moment.

I hope with all my heart I am proved wton

 

[Silvagnis]

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/the-chicken-little-season-is-over-thread.1051566/

Shit thread is shit.

 

[SE_Blue]

I hope with all my heart I am proved wton

Sleep it off mate and come back in the morning.

 

[PP34]

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/the-chicken-little-season-is-over-thread.1051566/

Shit thread is shit.

Well he hasn't taken that next step has he?

Really hope that the injuries have set him back a year or so and we begin to see the best of him. Hope it's not just simply a case of him already being at his best.

 

[thylacine60]

I gotta say I'm so disappointed with the big fella. Thought he'd have come on better than this by now. I know big blokes take longer, injuries, played out of position etc. Just find myself willing him to make more of a statement every game I watch. Feel like a lowdown dog for saying it.

 

[james Dean]

I don't think anybody can honestly say he has proved worthy of a #1 draft pick. I'm not even going to compare him to Cotchin because that's just ridiculous.

Compare him however to the other ruckmen in the league, you'd say that Cox, Sandilands, Naitanui, Leunberger, Minson, Goldstein, Ryder, Mumford and maybe even Jacobs are better ruckmen than him, and that's the disappointing part. He is a decent tap ruckman but a terrible key forward. His second efforts and defensive pressure are excellent and are his strongest points as a player, but that's no where near enough to make him a true gun of the league.

I still hold out hope that he could turn into a star, but it seems that he will more likely be a journeyman 150-200 gamer

 

[thylacine60]

I have zero confidence of him marking in a pack. How many times a game must he run completely under the ball?

 

[Lapp_46]

brazilblue Couldn't be more spot on!
There is no doubt people are blinded by the fact that he is really likeable, workmanlike and appears never to be fully fit.

But lets call a spade a spade. He was a number 1 draft pick and doubt whether he is even in the top 10 ruckman in the AFL.
His inability to perform consistently and grab games by the scruff of the neck (ever) is one of a large number of reasons we are no good.

Could have kept Jacobs and drafted Cotchin...royal stuff up... costs us

 

[HBF]

I have zero confidence of him marking in a pack. How many times a game must he run completely under the ball?

Spot on old boy.
Kreuzer needs some confidence and some games under his belt. Give him a month in the NB's and bring Casboult in to be the second ruck behind Warnock.

 

[mediumsizered]

brazilblue Couldn't be more spot on!
There is no doubt people are blinded by the fact that he is really likeable, workmanlike and appears never to be fully fit.

But lets call a spade a spade. He was a number 1 draft pick and doubt whether he is even in the top 10 ruckman in the AFL.
His inability to perform consistently and grab games by the scruff of the neck (ever) is one of a large number of reasons we are no good.

Could have kept Jacobs and drafted Cotchin...royal stuff up... costs us

Jacobs chose to leave, wanting to return home to SA. That was outside our control, in much the same way the Eagles were unable to hold on to Judd.

 

[Lapp_46]

Jacobs chose to leave for opportunities... He was one of four at the time (Warnock, Kruzer and Hampson). Going home was the obvious place to go. Look it's easy in hindsight to see that was a mistake, but really clever decisions like that at the time make the difference between having a good to average ruckman on your list or a top 10 midfielder in the AFL, captain, leader.
And you know what. I'm not even referring to Kruzer's game tonight. Hardly had a pre-season so definitely will need some time to pick up the required fitness but just referring to the last few years. There are always ruckman floating around and available. GWS just got Mumford, tigers got Maric.

 

[serenityNow]

I'm reluctantly beginning to agree.

He runs under the ball when attempting to mark...

He worries about the man too much at the bounce and not the tap...

He doesn't make an impact for a mobile ruckman when forward.

Really needs to work on his game.

 

[I bleed Blue]

I want nothing more for my beloved Blues than for Kreuze to become a superstar. I have been holding onto the hope of it for so long. Turned down big money to stay with us. Always plays team first footy. Etc etc.

But the fact is he is never going to be what we hoped he could be.

We can't use injury as an excuse anymore.

He is an experienced player with over 100 games under his belt. Yet he has no idea how to time his run at the footy... Watching him continually run under the footy is making me pull my hair out.

As thy said I have no confidence in him in a marking contest. (that goes for Warnock too... I knew he wouldn't mark the 1-1 in the square as soon as it was kicked. Compare that to a cox or sandilands, they would have marked it 9/10.)

I hope the big fella can prove me wrong this year but I am afraid we are only ever going to have a good average ruck an with Matty.

 

[gbatman]

This pick was one of Wayne Hughe's many howlers. He's still a good player as a ruckman but he's not the player we need or thought we were drafting. After seeing what Warnock dished out tonight I think he may be the best option for first ruck. It's a pain that both our ruckmen have some glaring weaknesses which makes it difficult to fit them into the same team. Seeing someone misjudge the ball in the air so badly just frustrates the hell out of me. Carlton has many issues, like the skill starved plodders in our midfield that we have picked to use to fix our lack of midfield depth and poor clearance work. Then there is that missing CHF issue, or is that missing CHF...

 

[Azul]

that goes for Warnock too... I knew he wouldn't mark the 1-1 in the square as soon as it was kicked.

Bronx cheer from the entire crowd later in the match when Robbie did hold his only mark of the game.

 

[RedFury]

I have zero confidence of him marking in a pack. How many times a game must he run completely under the ball?

Also gets moved around in marking contests ridiculously easy for a bloke his size.

 

[Linear]

Kruezer is just not top notch quality. He is a hard worker but should be showing Kouta qualities with his build, and he doesnt.

 

[I bleed Blue]

Bronx cheer from the entire crowd later in the match when Robbie did hold his only mark of the game.

If you are 206cm you should easily have 3 or 4 marks a game

 

[Lapp_46]

http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/threads/the-chicken-little-season-is-over-thread.1051566/

Shit thread is shit.

Looks like you are out numbered with that opinion...

 

[jonoman89]

He's been under performing ever since he came back from his ACL. He's had a wretched run with injury, but he really does need to take the next step. Once he gets a pre-season under his belt he should turn it around...whenever the hell that will be.

 

[OldBlueFan]

ODN and I both postulated that the trading of Hammer could spell the end of Matty ... god I hope we're wrong.

He's just the kinda player who needs to be amongst it the whole game. Look back over his career, I'm sure the vast majority of the outstanding games he's played have been when he's played as the sole ruck.

The fact that Warnock can do nothing but tap the ball means that Kreuzer just won't get to play the sort of game he needs to.

If he fails, how many players will that be who's careers have been ruined by the Carlton hierarchy playing them in positions they were never suited to play?

 

[brazilblue]

Like I said, no one dislikes Matty, we all love him, he is a true blue and we need all players to have his heart and loyalty. But in the end I am just so frustrated in seeing two rucks that can do absolutely nothing else around the ground.

It is really holding us back, amongst other glaringly obvious things!

 

[ShanDog]

I think we would be a better team with only one of Kreuz or Warnock on the park and Casboult or Rowe up forward to play backup for his spells on the bench.

I am torn in deciding which ruck I would rather see though. Probably Kreuz. When he is playing good footy he offers a shitload more than knockers. He just needs to get back to that level. Warnock may be the better tap ruck an but we should be backing our mids in to win the ball that extra few times it isn't a tap to their advantage. Can't get it on a silver platter every time....

 

[BM123]

To be honest I'd drop Warnock. There is always a chance that Warnock can get beaten in the ruck and when that happens he is always pushing hard to be the worst player on the ground. Kreuzer has always played better as the sole-ruck who roams forward and Warnock's softness when it came to the marking contests and ruck was just embarassing. Warnock's inability to actually mark means that we also lack run since he can't do anything outside the initial ruck tap. Doesn't follow up on his ruck work either. I think our clearance work is pretty ordinary now to be honest and we never see Gibbs or Murphy get free from a block or shepherd to deliver the ball to a hard leading key forward. It's always Robinson or Mclean just hacking it into the air while the opposition teams swarm from the HB line to kill the ball. The better teams uses a series of quick handballs from the stoppage to free up their better players instead of relying on their blue collar mids to sky the ball. Long penetrating kicks as well are another option but our blue collar mids seem to think that a snap on the boot works better then giving off to Gibbs or Murphy for a decent kick to advantage. Remember when Robinson just snapped it up the corridor to three Port players with no Carlton players around them when we had three players loose around him in the corridor?

In short I think our mids need to learn proper stoppage routines instead of relying on Warnock to win for us.



Bloody hell.

 

[pepalenko]

To be honest I'd drop Warnock. There is always a chance that Warnock can get beaten in the ruck and when that happens he is always pushing hard to be the worst player on the ground. Kreuzer has always played better as the sole-ruck who roams forward and Warnock's softness when it came to the marking contests and ruck was just embarassing. Warnock's inability to actually mark means that we also lack run since he can't do anything outside the initial ruck tap. Doesn't follow up on his ruck work either. I think our clearance work is pretty ordinary now to be honest and we never see Gibbs or Murphy get free from a block or shepherd to deliver the ball to a hard leading key forward. It's always Robinson or Mclean just hacking it into the air while the opposition teams swarm from the HB line to kill the ball. better teams uses a series of quick handballs from the stoppage to free up their better players instead of relying on their blue collar mids to sky the ball. Long penetrating kicks as well are another option but our blue collar mids seem to think that a snap on the boot works better then giving off to Gibbs or Murphy for a decent kick to advantage. Remember when Robinson just snapped it up the corridor to three Port players with no Carlton players around them when we had three players loose around him in the corridor?

In short I think our mids need to learn proper stoppage routines instead of relying on Warnock to win for us.



Bloody hell.

Agreed