Max Kruse (born 29 October 1958) is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the South Melbourne/Sydney in the

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

(VFL). Kruse was named after his father, Max Kruse, a former

Prahran Prahran (), also pronounced colloquially as Pran, is an inner suburb in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 5 km south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the City of Stonnington local government area. Prahran recorded a po ...

ruckman who represented the

Victorian Football Association The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

at the 1953 Adelaide Carnival. Kruse senior was appointed coach of New South Wales club Leeton in 1957 and his son was born the following year. In 1978, Kruse kicked 52 goals for Leeton, playing mainly from centre half forward and finished third in the league medal, the Gammage Medal, on 16 votes. He played in their 1978 premiership when Leeton defeated Turvey Park in the SWDFL grand final. A

centre half-forward In Australian rules football, the centre half-forward is a position on the half-forward line of a football field. The directly opposing player is a centre half-back. Royce Hart of the Richmond Football Club and Wayne Carey of the North Melbourne ...

/ centre half-back, Kruse joined South Melbourne in 1979 and played eight games that year, all from round 13. He made another nine appearances in 1980, then from 1981 to 1984 put together 53 consecutive games. A thigh injury in 1985 kept him out of the league team for much of the year and he played only three games. It would be Kruse's final season with the Swans, he then spent four years with Glenelg from 1986 to 1989, after moving to South Australia for business reasons. He was a member of Glenelg's 1986 premiership team.

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1978 - SWDFL Premiers: Leeton FC team photo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kruse, Max 1958 births Living people Australian rules footballers from New South Wales Sydney Swans players Glenelg Football Club players New South Wales Australian rules football State of Origin players People from Leeton, New South Wales