David Barry Hille (born 2 June 1981) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er with the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

Early life

In his senior year at high school, Hille and seven other schoolmates from Peninsula Grammar 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

and proved to be a solid ruckman for a number of years. In 2006, Hille was appointed stand-in captain after

Matthew Lloyd Matthew James Lloyd (born 16 April 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer, who played for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A highly decorated full-forward, Lloyd's AFL's honours include ...

suffered a season-ending

hamstring A hamstring () is any one of the three posterior thigh muscles in human anatomy between the hip and the knee: from medial to lateral, the semimembranosus, semitendinosus and biceps femoris. Etymology The word " ham" is derived from the Old ...

injury Injury is physiological damage to the living tissue of any organism, whether in humans, in other animals, or in plants. Injuries can be caused in many ways, including mechanically with penetration by sharp objects such as teeth or with ...

in round three. He captained his first game in Round 6, 2006. From 2007 to 2012, he held the role of vice-captain of the Essendon Football Club which he shared with Mark McVeigh for the most part. In the Round 17, 2006 clash between Essendon and

Brisbane Lions The Brisbane Lions are a professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football club based in Brisbane, Queensland, that compete in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. Brisbane are the ...

(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 Bombers' 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's career at Essendon included captaining the team in 2006 in the absence of injured forward and captain

, winning Essendon's best and fairest, the W.S. Crichton Medal, in 2008 and winning the Yiooken Award in 2010, awarded for being adjudged best on ground in the annual Dreamtime at the 'G match between Essendon and Richmond. Hille, along with 33 other Essendon players, was found guilty of using a banned performance-enhancing substance,

thymosin beta-4 Thymosin beta-4 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ''TMSB4X'' gene. Recommended INN (International Nonproprietary Name) for thymosin beta-4 is 'timbetasin', as published by the World Health Organization (WHO). The protein consists (in ...

, 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 The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; , AMA) is an international organization co-founded by the governments of over 140 nations along with the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against d ...

. 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 The Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (abbreviated as RMIT University) is a public research university located in the city of Melbourne in Victoria, Australia., section 4(b) Established in 1887 by Francis Ormond, it is the seventh-o ...

and currently lives in Sydney with his wife Kirsty. David and Kirsty have a two-year-old daughter, Matilda and will soon have a second child. David completed postgraduate studies at Sydney University and now works for Deloitte as a senior analyst.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to Round 6 of the 2013 season.'' , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, , , 34 , , 6 , , 1 , , 3 , , 23 , , 12 , , 35 , , 13 , , 3 , , 0.2 , , 0.5 , , 3.8 , , 2.0 , , 5.8 , , 2.2 , , 0.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, , , 34 , , 19 , , 11 , , 10 , , 100 , , 65 , , 165 , , 77 , , 27 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 5.3 , , 3.4 , , 8.7 , , 4.0 , , 1.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, , , 19 , , 24 , , 20 , , 14 , , 171 , , 91 , , 262 , , 78 , , 32 , , 0.8 , , 0.6 , , 7.1 , , 3.8 , , 10.9 , , 3.2 , , 1.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, , , 19 , , 23 , , 25 , , 18 , , 149 , , 92 , , 241 , , 83 , , 29 , , 1.1 , , 0.8 , , 6.5 , , 4.0 , , 10.5 , , 3.6 , , 1.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, , , 19 , , 13 , , 10 , , 7 , , 83 , , 100 , , 183 , , 56 , , 19 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 6.4 , , 7.7 , , 14.1 , , 4.3 , , 1.5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, , , 19 , , 21 , , 13 , , 15 , , 136 , , 164 , , 300 , , 92 , , 29 , , 0.6 , , 0.7 , , 6.5 , , 7.8 , , 14.3 , , 4.4 , , 1.4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, , , 19 , , 18 , , 7 , , 8 , , 113 , , 115 , , 228 , , 70 , , 33 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 6.3 , , 6.4 , , 12.7 , , 3.9 , , 1.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, , , 19 , , 20 , , 19 , , 18 , , 177 , , 147 , , 324 , , 103 , , 34 , , 1.0 , , 0.9 , , 8.8 , , 7.4 , , 16.2 , , 5.2 , , 1.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, , , 19 , , 5 , , 1 , , 3 , , 25 , , 34 , , 59 , , 15 , , 4 , , 0.2 , , 0.6 , , 5.0 , , 6.8 , , 11.8 , , 3.0 , , 0.8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, , , 19 , , 16 , , 16 , , 11 , , 123 , , 139 , , 262 , , 90 , , 24 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 7.7 , , 8.7 , , 16.4 , , 5.6 , , 1.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, , , 19 , , 19 , , 20 , , 13 , , 147 , , 149 , , 296 , , 110 , , 27 , , 1.0 , , 0.7 , , 7.7 , , 7.8 , , 15.6 , , 5.8 , , 1.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, , , 19 , , 9 , , 9 , , 7 , , 73 , , 54 , , 127 , , 47 , , 10 , , 1.0 , , 0.8 , , 8.1 , , 6.0 , , 14.1 , , 5.2 , , 1.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, , , 19 , , 3 , , 1 , , 4 , , 24 , , 20 , , 44 , , 10 , , 3 , , 0.3 , , 1.3 , , 8.0 , , 6.7 , , 14.7 , , 3.3 , , 1 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 196 ! 153 ! 131 ! 1344 ! 1182 ! 2526 ! 844 ! 274 ! 0.8 ! 0.7 ! 6.9 ! 6.0 ! 12.9 ! 4.3 ! 1.4

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hille, David 1981 births Living people Essendon Football Club players Crichton Medal winners RMIT University alumni Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Dandenong Stingrays players Australian sportspeople in doping cases Bendigo Football Club players University of Sydney alumni People educated at Peninsula Grammar