Steven Kretiuk (born 4 July 1972) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played with the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL). Kretiuk made his AFL debut against Fitzroy a month shy of 20 years old. Kretiuk was a defender and spent over a decade at Footscray, with injuries preventing him from playing more games than the 170 he finished with. He finished second in the club's 1994

best and fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

awards. In a Round 14 game from 2002, Kretiuk controversially targeted

Essendon Essendon may refer to: Australia *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club, in the Australian Football League *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington United Kin ...

spearhead

Matthew Lloyd Matthew James Lloyd (born 16 April 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A highly decorated full-forward, Lloyd's AFL's honours include ...

's injured hand, causing outrage. He played his final game in Round 22, 2003, against the

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

. Kretiuk is a personal trainer and football coach. He began his coaching career at Werribee Football Club in 2004, where he served as an assistant coach under Simon Atkins for four years. Kretiuk coached the

Western Jets The Western Jets is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Victorian premier U19 competition, the Talent League, since its inception in 1992. The club have developmental squads in the U16, however much of the attention is towards it ...

in the

TAC Cup The Talent League (also known as the Coates Talent League under naming rights and previously as the NAB League and TAC Cup) is an under-19 Australian rules football representative competition based in Melbourne and run by the Australian Foot ...

between 2008 and 2012. He held this position until 2012, during which time he completed his Level 2 and Level 3 high-performance coaching accreditation. In 2013, he served as a Melbourne-based opposition analyst for the Brisbane Lions. In 2014, he was appointed the senior coach of

Hoppers Crossing Football Club The Hoppers Crossing Football Club is an Australian rules football club which has competed in the WRFL since 1988. They are based in the Melbourne suburb of Hoppers Crossing. History In 1972, the club fielded a senior team in the Western Suburb ...

, a position he held until 2022. He was succeeded by Adam Contessa in 2023, another former Bulldog.

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kretiuk, Steven 1972 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Western Bulldogs players Australian people of Polish descent