David Neitz
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| Personal information | |
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| Birth | 22 January 1975 , Ulverstone, Tasmania |
| Recruited from | Parkmore |
| Height and weight | 193cm / 100kg |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 1, March 27, 1993, Melbourne vs. Hawthorn, at Waverley Park |
| Team(s) | Melbourne (1993-2008)
306 games, 631 goals |
| ¹ Statistics to end of 2008 season | |
| Career highlights | |
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David Neitz (born 22 January 1975), nicknamed Neita, was an Australian rules footballer, and captain of the Melbourne Football Club (the Demons).
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 April 8, 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 April 8, 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 two 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 April 8, 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 May 19 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 August 17, 2007, making him the first Melbourne player to reach 300 AFL games.
He had 999 scoring shots in his career, for 631 goals matching his accuracy of 63.1%.
[edit] Retirement
Due to a constant neck injury and a broken disc in the back of his neck, after playing 5 games in 2008 he finally pulled the plug on his AFL career as he announced his immediate retirement on May 19, 2008. He ends his playing career with several Melbourne records that he's broken during recent seasons, three in particular: Most games (only player to play 300 games for Melbourne), most goals, and longest-serving captain.
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He is rumoured to receive a coaching position for Melbourne Demons.
[edit] External links
- David Neitz profile on the Official AFL Website of the Melbourne Football Club
- David Neitz's statistics from AFL Tables
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This article does not cite any references or sources. (September 2007) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
| Sporting positions | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Todd Viney |
Captain of Melbourne 2000 - 2008 |
Succeeded by James McDonald/ Cameron Bruce (Interim) |
| Awards | ||
| Preceded by Matthew Lloyd |
Coleman Medallist 2002 |
Succeeded by Matthew Lloyd |
| Preceded by Adem Yze |
Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medallist 2002 |
Succeeded by Russell Robertson |
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