Max Kruse (Australian footballer)
Max Kruse is a former Australian rules footballer who played with the South Melbourne/Sydney in the Victorian Football League.
Kruse was named after his father, Max Kruse, a former Prahran ruckman who represented the Victorian Football Association 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.
A centre half-forward / 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.
