Captain Kyle Matthews, still has hopes of playing AFL football.

PETER German arrived at the Casey Scorpions  knowing little  about the club or the VFL  competition.It didn't take him long to realise  he had an outstanding player  in Kyle Matthews. 

Scorpions football manager Craig Lees   remembers giving German some tapes of Matthews, and German  watching them and saying: ``Sh.t, he can play.''

Paul Amy- Inside Football/Leader News

The coach cannot recall  the conversation, but  says that as soon as the players  took to the track he could see a class act.

``Just    his pace and skill and the way he moved,'' German said.``I thought, `There's a guy you can build a side   around'.''Those words will make pleasant  reading for Matthews, who is  178cm and 72kg.  Build a side around? 

 At every level of  his football he  has been  told he's too small and light. ``I've copped it all the time,'' he said. ``Copped it forever, over and over.''But  it doesn't stop him  from being  Casey's best tackler or bravest player. 

German is a big fan, to the point that he's  telling people  his captain should be on an AFL list. Hopefully Melbourne ears  are listening.``Kyle's 23. I've seen Fremantle pick up Josh Head. I remember Hawthorn picked up Kris Barlow,'' he said.``He may not be the most physically strong player. But, geez mate, I look at a James McDonald and there's nothing of him and he leads the tackle count for Melbourne  because of his attitude.``Kyle's the same. He might not be  big in size but he's got a massive heart, puts his body on the line. ``Surely at 23 players are still learning and  developing.''Matthews started the  season in kingly form, but   didn't get near itin the  ABC TV game against Coburg Tigers.

At Casey, they say Kyle and cameras don't mix.  Contacted for this story, Matthews was  still filthy  over his performance at Coburg.``Didn't play  well. Butchered the ball. Not happy,'' he said in a tone that played up the larrikin side of him.Matthews  is in his fourth season in the VFL,  his second as captain and his first as a  pure midfielder.He made the  2006  and 2007   VFL  teams of the year as a  wingman.But this  season he's enjoyed playing on the ball.

``He (German)  just said to me, `This year the midfield won't be dominated by St Kilda players,  I need Casey boys to step up',''Matthews recalled.``I was happy with that. I've always wanted to play on the ball. You can roam the whole ground. I've had small stints at it. I loved the wing. It was great. But it can be restrictive.

There's days when the ball's always on the other side of the ground. You don't see much of it.'' Matthews   thinks the  new alignment with Melbourne is better than theprevious link with the Saints, noting how ``it's not controlled by the AFL side''.``The best player plays in the  position,'' he said. ``That's the way it should be.''What about those comments from German about   his AFL prospects? Matthews said it was always in the back of his mind, ``but if it doesn't happen it's not going to bother me''.

In the next breath he mentioned  how he ran into  Richmond little man and former Port Melbourne player Robin Nahas at Chadstone shoppingcentre a couple of weeks ago.   They  got to know each other at a VFLUnder 23 game and ribbed each other about being ``too small''. ``We had a few jokes  about our weight,'' Matthews said.``But he's proven that you can get picked up, no matter how small you are. He's doing quite well.''Nahas left Matthews with the words, ``Keep it up''.  He will.