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Send your congratulations to Chris Judd, Marc Murphy, Brendan Fevola, Matthew Kreuzer, and all the other 2008 award winners.
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IT'S BEEN a steep learning curve for Matthew Kreuzer in his debut season, but the ruckman was a worthy winner of Carlton's best first year player award on Thursday night.

The No.1 draft pick burst onto the scene with an eye-catching 16-disposal, 12-hitout performance against Essendon in round three and went on to play out the season in the senior side to give Carlton fans plenty of optimism.

"It's a long time ago, I can't remember too much of it, but I was just excited and very nervous before my first game. I was lucky enough to come out and play alright though," Kreuzer said of the match in which he also booted two goals.

"I was always nervous before every game so I didn't ever feel comfortable going up against the bigger boys, but I just tried to learn as much as I could from my opponents each week and then try and use that the following week."

Kreuzer, who received a NAB Rising Star nomination after round 11, says he benefitted from the support given to him by fellow No.1 draft picks Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs during a season where he was desperate to get as much game time as possible.

"I always wanted to keep playing each week," he said.

"During the week all the fitness staff would help me out by pulling me back from training a bit to try and get me up for the weekend – I just wanted to play every game I could.

"I can't wait to get stuck into pre-season next year. I just want to have a full pre-season and get as fit as possible. This year I just tried to go out and learn as much as possible and I'll try and take that into next year."

The 19-year-old finished the season with an average of 10 disposals and nine hitouts per game and the praise of his coach for the way he attacked contests which invariably saw him matched up on much stronger, more mature opponents.