IT WAS a run Matt Crouch was keen to preserve, at least until after the NAB AFL Under-18 Championships. 

 

About 10 weeks ago, Crouch was sitting with North Ballarat Rebels region manager Phil Partington, telling him he had never missed a game of football through injury. Partington squirmed a little, knowing it was a comment asking for some Murphy's Law intervention.

 

Crouch had been injured before. When he was 12, he got in a fight with older brother Brad, punched him in the hip and missed a couple of games of cricket with a broken hand. 

 

But not footy. Injury had never stopped him from digging into packs, ripping the ball out and feeding it off.

 

Two weeks after telling Partington of his healthy streak, Crouch broke his hand playing for the Rebels, resulting in seven weeks on the sidelines. 

 

"I should have touched wood," Crouch told AFL.com.au.

 

He missed the first three games of Vic Country's under-18 campaign, returning on Friday for its loss to Western Australia. Crouch had played the week before, for the Rebels against Bendigo Pioneers, and gathered 33 disposals.

 

He had 16 against WA at Simonds Stadium, and the strong and smart midfielder is hoping for a bit more of it against Vic Metro at Etihad Stadium next Wednesday.

 

"Playing last week in TAC Cup the intensity wasn't as high, so coming into the Vic Country side was a rise in intensity and those sorts of things," Crouch said.

 

"Early on I didn't think I adapted that well but as the game went on I thought I got better. At the start of the game I was stuffed but you just have to keep yourself going.

 

"I think my fitness is OK but I thought I could have found a fair bit more of the footy, so hopefully against Metro I can do a bit better."

 

Crouch used his time off effectively. He had to wait a couple of weeks after the injury for swelling to subside before starting to train again, but resumed running with his hand in a cast and feels better for it.

 

"I did a lot of 400m running and that sort of stuff to keep my fitness up. I feel fitter than I did a couple of months ago in terms of running, but I'm not 'footy-fit' yet," he said. 

 

Crouch is close with Brad, who has played five games for Adelaide in his debut AFL season and gathered a career-high 31 disposals against Gold Coast on Saturday.

 

The pair keep tabs on one another, and Brad has offered advice to his younger brother about how to handle what's left of the national carnival and what's to come this year.

 

"He said that five games is a long time, and even in my case two games, so try to stay consistent and that is the key," Matt said. 

 

"You see blokes who are up and down and he said if you can try to play consistent footy it'll help a lot.

 

"I've still got a lot of footy to play this year so I think I can catch-up in the last game of nationals and then the TAC Cup after my injury and see how it goes."