Steve Kretiuk says there was no malice in rivalry with Matthew Lloyd

THE man who terrorised goalkicker Matthew Lloyd during a game early in his career never doubted the full-forward would become an AFL great.

Steve Kretiuk and Matthew Lloyd do battle in 2003. Picture: Colleen Petch

THE man who terrorised century goalkicker Matthew Lloyd during a game early in his career, leaving the Essendon champion close to tears, never doubted the full-forward would become one of the AFL’s great players.

Lloyd was held to just four kicks and two goals by ­former Western Bulldogs defender Steve Kretiuk in Round 6, 1998.

After being inducted into the AFL Hall of Fame last week, the left-footer revealed teammates told him to toughen up or risk being driven out of the system after the Princes Park match.

Lloyd and Kretiuk developed a fierce rivalry, but the tough defender moved to light the fuse before the clash after speaking to a friend, who was a bouncer at the Bulldogs Social Club.

“He kicked someone out and gave them a bit of a pinch on the tricep,” Kretiuk recalled. “The guy was carrying on a bit and I said, ‘does that hurt?’, and he did it to me and it tickled a bit.

“For a bit of fun and games, I thought I’d do it to Lloydy in the game and he obviously was getting a bit annoyed and it frustrated him. I kept doing it because it was getting his mind off the game.”

But Kretiuk, who is a former coach of TAC Cup outfit Western Jets, the same club from which Lloyd graduated before making his AFL debut in 1995, said he had no malice towards his rival. He added the two always spoke when they crossed paths.

“I knew he was a pretty good player, so you try and get into someone’s head to stop them having an impact on the game,” he said.

“The important thing people should remember is we only did these things to try and win a game of footy. There was never anything personal. I had a job to do and I just didn’t want to be that weak link in the chain of success.”

Lloyd learned plenty from the 1998 incident and went on to kick 87, 109 and 105 goals in the next three seasons. He had 926 goals from 270 games next to his name when he retired in 2009.

The pair were also in the headlines in 2002 after ­Kretiuk attempted to punch Lloyd’s injured hand.

“I got a couple of death threats … I don’t take them seriously. Every Essendon supporter hates my guts and every other supporter says, ‘well done, we hate Lloydy’,” Kretiuk said.

Kretiuk also locked horns with Jason Dunstall and Gary Ablett Sr during his career, but said Lloyd deserved to be in elite company.

“He’d be up there in the top five, easily,” Kretiuk said when asked about his toughest opponents.

“He was always going to be an outstanding footballer, and I obviously wasn’t going to do it to anyone who wasn’t going to trouble us in a game.”

Kretiuk is now working as an opposition analyst at the Brisbane Lions after quitting as Jets coach last year. He is hoping to secure a development role at an AFL club next year.