David Neitz

David Neitz
Personal information
Full name David Neitz
Date of birth (1975-01-22) 22 January 1975
Place of birth Ulverstone, Tasmania
Original team(s) Parkmore
Height/Weight 193 cm / 100 kg
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1993–2008 Melbourne 306 (631)
1 Playing statistics correct to end of 2008 season.
Career highlights

David Neitz (born 22 January 1975), nicknamed Neita, is a retired Australian rules footballer. The strongly built centre half back who became a full forward was the longest-serving captain in the history of the Melbourne Football Club and the first Melbourne player to achieve the 300-game milestone.

Neitz was born in Ulverstone, Tasmania, he was groomed as a potential Australian Football League player from the age of 15 and targeted by the recruiters at the Melbourne Football Club, entering the AFL in 1993 as a key position player, he soon became one of Melbourne's best young prospects.

In 1994, Neitz was named to his first Victorian State of Origin team, and he went one step further in 1995 by making the All-Australian team as well as the Victorian side.

After the retirement of Demons great Garry Lyon, Neitz moved to the full-forward position and began his successful run as one of the AFL's elite goal scorers. He has led Melbourne's goalkicking seven times (1996, 1997 (equal), 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2006), and in 2002 won the prestigious Coleman Medal for leading the league in goals, making him not only the first Melbourne player to do so, but also the first Melbourne player to lead the competition's goalkicking since the 40's. On 8 April 2005, Neitz became the 40th person in VFL/AFL history to kick 500 career goals.

Neitz was appointed captain of Melbourne in 2000, and on 8 April 2005 he broke the club record for most games captained (previously held by Garry Lyon with 112 games as captain). He has been an All-Australian in 1995 and 2002, and played for Australia in the 1998 International Rules Series and 2002 International Rules Series against Ireland. In 2002, Neitz also won his first Melbourne Best and Fairest Award, the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal.

On 8 April 2005, Neitz played his 250th career AFL game, and in 2006 signed a two-year contract extension seeing him through to the end of 2007. Neitz became Melbourne's all-time leading goal-kicker on 19 May 2006, surpassing Norm Smith's previous record of 546 goals. Two weeks later, he broke Robert Flower's long standing record of 272 games, making him the longest serving Demon in history. He played his 300th AFL game for the Demons in the defeat against Collingwood on 17 August 2007.

Statistics

[1]
Legend
 D  Disposals  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  M  Marks  T  Tackles  H/O  Hit-outs  G  Goals  B  Behinds
Led the league for the season only
Led the league after finals only
Led the league after season and finals
Season Team # Games D K H M T H/O G B D K H M T H/O G B
Totals Averages (per game)
1993 Melbourne 38 20 257 161 96 94 12 10 17 15 12.9 8.1 4.8 4.7 0.6 0.5 0.9 0.8
1994 Melbourne 9 24 312 189 123 81 22 9 2 2 13.0 7.9 5.1 3.4 0.9 0.4 0.1 0.1
1995 Melbourne 9 22 299 232 67 140 18 50 33 25 13.6 10.5 3.0 6.4 0.8 2.3 1.5 1.1
1996 Melbourne 9 22 247 181 66 110 22 27 56 26 11.2 8.2 3.0 5.0 1.0 1.2 2.5 1.2
1997 Melbourne 9 17 163 129 34 77 9 17 30 22 9.6 7.6 2.0 4.5 0.5 1.0 1.8 1.3
1998 Melbourne 9 14 157 115 42 57 14 39 33 21 11.2 8.2 3.0 4.1 1.0 2.8 2.4 1.5
1999 Melbourne 9 18 204 153 51 92 17 35 46 21 11.3 8.5 2.8 5.1 0.9 1.9 2.6 1.2
2000 Melbourne 9 21 268 201 67 126 23 21 24 19 12.8 9.6 3.2 6.0 1.1 1.0 1.1 0.9
2001 Melbourne 9 22 267 206 61 132 21 14 38 34 12.1 9.4 2.8 6.0 1.0 0.6 1.7 1.5
2002 Melbourne 9 24 228 178 50 132 23 31 82 38 9.5 7.4 2.1 5.5 1.0 1.3 3.4 1.6
2003 Melbourne 9 22 185 147 38 101 22 40 65 28 8.4 6.7 1.7 4.6 1.0 1.8 3.0 1.3
2004 Melbourne 9 21 187 155 32 99 19 11 69 47 8.9 7.4 1.5 4.7 0.9 0.5 3.3 2.2
2005 Melbourne 9 18 145 118 27 67 20 1 39 23 8.1 6.6 1.5 3.7 1.1 0.1 2.2 1.3
2006 Melbourne 9 21 204 163 41 106 16 3 68 26 9.7 7.8 2.0 5.0 0.8 0.1 3.2 1.2
2007 Melbourne 9 15 133 100 33 68 6 0 26 16 8.9 6.7 2.2 4.5 0.4 0.0 1.7 1.1
2008 Melbourne 9 5 35 27 8 20 4 2 3 5 7.0 5.4 1.6 4.0 0.8 0.4 0.6 1.0
Career 306 3291 2455 836 1502 268 310 631 368 10.8 8.0 2.7 4.9 0.9 1.0 2.1 1.2

Honours and achievements

Brownlow Medal votes
Season Votes
1993 —
1994 2
1995 8
1996 10
1997 2
1998 —
1999 5
2000 6
2001 7
2002 11
2003 8
2004 10
2005 —
2006 10
2007 —
2008 —
Total 79
Key:
Green / Bold = Won

Retirement

Due to a broken disc in the back of his neck, and after playing only five games in 2008, he finally pulled the plug on his AFL career as he announced his immediate retirement on 19 May 2008. In the round nine 2008 match Melbourne vs Hawthorn after the match Neitz was given a standing ovation by the players and the fans. He ended his playing career with several Melbourne records that he'd broken during recent seasons, three in particular: Most games (only player to play 300 games for Melbourne), most goals, and longest-serving captain.[2]

References

External links

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