David Neitz

David Neitz
Personal information
Full name	David Neitz
Date of birth	22 January 1975 (1975-01-22) (age 36)
Place of birth	Ulverstone, Tasmania
Original team	Parkmore
Height/Weight	193cm / 100kg
Playing career1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1993 – 2008	Melbourne	306 (631)
1 Playing statistics to end of 2008 season .
Career highlights
Coleman Medal 2002 Melbourne Best and Fairest 2002 State of Origin (Victoria) 1994, All Australian Team 1995, 2002 AFL Rising Star nominee 1993 Melbourne leading goalkicker 1996, 1997 (equal), 1999, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006 International Rules Series 1998, 2002

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.

He had 999 scoring shots in his career, for 631 goals matching his accuracy of 63.1%.

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.^[1]

References

1. ^ David Neitz calls it a day

External links

• David Neitz's statistics from AFL Tables

Sporting positions
Preceded by Todd Viney	Captain of Melbourne 2000 – 2008	Succeeded by James McDonald
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
Preceded by Garry Lyon Jeff Farmer Russell Robertson Russell Robertson	Melbourne Football Club Leading Goalkicker 1996-1997 1999 2002-2004 2006	Succeeded by Jeff Farmer Jeff Farmer Russell Robertson Russell Robertson

Persondata
Name	Neitz, David
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	22 January 1975
Place of birth	Ulverstone, Tasmania
Date of death
Place of death