In his first full season at the Swans, rookie Eugene Kruger had a ball.

The former East Coast Eagles player set the track alight in the pre-season and went on to play 14 games for the Swans reserves, including the Eastern Conference final against Ainslie.

Kruger has been retained on the rookie list for 2012 and told sydneyswans.com.au that he is eager to learn and improve his game.

You’ve just completed your first season as a rookie with the Swans. How did you find it?

It was probably the best time of my life. It was pretty full on, but it has been a great ride so far, it’s been amazing. I really put my focus into getting on the list when they gave me a chance last pre-season. I really wanted it and when they gave me a bit of a sniff at the end of last year I just went hard at it. It was a real surprise when I got the carrot and got a rookie spot.

You got the spot on the strength of your great running. How did that translate into games?

Running helped me but the first half of the season I was running around not getting much of the ball. But towards the end of the season I worked hard and started getting a lot more of the ball, running a lot smarter.  That was something  I worked on.

What were the main things you had to work on?

Definitely decision-making and the game plan. I had to get my head around that and once I got it, I started really noticing the difference. That then gave me the chance to work on the finer details such as ground balls and tackling and other skills that are necessary. My kicking has really improved. I could notice it in games especially. Whereas I might have kicked it over my team-mates’ head or to the side, I was hitting a lot more of the targets which was a great feeling.

Who has helped you, and who do you aspire to be like?

Definitely Jarred Moore and Jarrad McVeigh. Jarrad McVeigh is my mentor and he was a real inspiration on and off the field for me. Then I would go to Jarred Moore because I was with him through the whole reserves campaign. It is so good to see someone who is so professional in the way he goes about things and he has a good football brain. I was able to talk to him during games and after games, just see what he thinks I should have done or could have done better.

You have another year on the rookie list in 2012. Where do you really want to improve again?

I definitely want to improve my skills more. I’ve spoken to the coaches and they want more of a build on me. They are happy with my fitness and skills are my biggest priority but I need more strength as well. I would love to be real quick but also have a bit of body on me to be able to tackle opponents and take them on.

What will be your goal?

I wish I had taken it at a step at a time this year. I started to do that towards the end of the year and it made a difference. So I learnt from that and next year I just want to take it a step at a time and really look towards the end of next year.

This year I was trying to do everything all at once and I then had a chat to Stuart Maxfield and we brought it all the way back and worked on one thing at a time, one thing a week. I think that was the right way to go about things and I’m going to try to do it next year, not look too far ahead.

How have you found combining the Swans with uni?

Footy for me comes first at the moment but I was able to do a couple of subjects at uni and my marks got better as the year went on, so it all came down to time management.