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 the end of 2008 season.
Career highlights
Melbourne captain: 2000–2008 Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medallist: 2002 Coleman Medallist: 2002 7× Melbourne leading goalkicker: 1996, 1997 (equal), 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 Harold Ball Memorial Trophy: 1993 2× All-Australian team: 1995, 2002 AFL Rising Star nominee: 1993

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

	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

• Individual
  • Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Medal: 2002
  • Coleman Medal: 2002
  • Melbourne F.C. Captain: 2000-2008
  • All-Australian: 1995, 2002
  • Melbourne F.C. Leading Goalkicker: 1996-1997, 1999, 2002-2004, 2006
  • Australian Representative Honours in International Rules Football: 1998, 2002
  • AFL Rising Star Nominee: 1993 (Round 6)

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.

External links

• David Neitz's statistics from AFL Tables