Full name David Barry Hille Name David Hille Career end 2013 Height/Weight 202cm / 108kg Height 2.02 m | Position(s) Ruckman Weight 108 kg Years Club Career start 2000 | |
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Date of birth (1981-06-02) 2 June 1981 (age 34) Draft #40, 1999 National Draft, Essendon Role Australian Rules Footballer | ||
Tribute to afl s hottest ruckman essendon s david hille
David Hille (born 2 June 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer with the Essendon Football Club.
Contents
- Tribute to afl s hottest ruckman essendon s david hille
- Btv david hille retires
- Early life
- Football career
- Retirement
- Personal life
- Statistics
- References
Btv david hille retires
Early life
In his senior year at high school, Hille and seven other schoolmates from The Peninsula School lodged themselves into a station wagon and crashed it 500m up the road from where they took off in South Frankston. Three of the boys in the car were killed, and the other three seriously injured, but Hille was not injured. The accident report claims that Hille was wearing his seatbelt, which is why he has appeared on commercials about buckling up when driving.
Football career
He made his debut in 2001 with the Essendon Football Club and has been a solid ruckman for a number of years. In a surprise decision, Hille was appointed stand-in captain for the 2006 AFL season after Matthew Lloyd suffered a season-ending hamstring injury.
He captained his first game in Round 6, 2006. During 2007 through to 2012 he upheld the role of Vice-Captain of the Essendon Football Club which was shared with Mark McVeigh for the most part.
In the Round 17, 2006 clash between Essendon and Brisbane Lions (the first match Essendon won under his captaincy, and since the beginning of April that year), Brisbane ruckman Jamie Charman fell heavily in a contest, seriously injuring his shoulder. The image of David Hille comforting his opponent whilst medical help arrived was often replayed by the football media as a rare example of sportsmanship in such a competitive game.
At the 2008 Essendon Best and Fairest, Hille swept the floor by taking the most prestigious award of the night, the 'Best and Fairest'. Hille also came away with the 'Cheersquad award'.
Hille suffered a knee injury in the second minute of the Bomber's annual ANZAC Day match against Collingwood in Round 5, 2009. Scans confirmed he had ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament, requiring a full knee construction and ending his season.
Retirement
On 29 August 2013, Hille announced his intention to retire from AFL Football at season's end. Hille has led a colourful career at Essendon, including captaining the team in 2006 in the absence of injured forward and captain Matthew Lloyd, Essendon best and fairest W.S. Crichton Medal in 2008 and the Yiooken Award in 2010, awarded for being judged best on ground in the Dreamtime at the 'G match between Essendon and Richmond Tigers commemorating the Aboriginal presence within the AFL.
Hille, along with 33 other Essendon players, was found guilty of using a banned performance enhancing substance, thymosin beta-4, as part of Essendon's sports supplements program during the 2012 season. He and his team-mates were initially found not guilty in March 2015 by the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal, but a guilty verdict was returned in January 2016 after an appeal by the World Anti-Doping Agency. He was suspended for two years which, with backdating, ended in November 2016, although by this stage had already retired from football at all levels.
Personal life
Studied a Bachelor of Business at RMIT University and currently lives in Melbourne.