Alex Neal-Bullen

Alex Neal-Bullen (born 9 January 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A midfielder, 1.82 metres (6 ft 0 in) tall and weighing 80 kilograms (180 lb), Neal-Bullen plays primarily as a half-forward. He played top-level football early when he played senior football for the Glenelg Football Club in the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) at eighteen years of age, in addition to representing South Australia at the 2014 AFL Under 18 Championships. He was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with the fortieth selection in the 2014 AFL draft and he made his AFL debut during the 2015 season. Neal-Bullen tried unsuccessfully to eliminate an injured Blake Acres from a 2023 semi final, by repeatedly hitting him in an injured shoulder. Unfortunately for Neal-Bullen, Acres got the last laugh by kicking the winning goal in the final minute, eliminating Neal-Bullen and his Demons in straight sets.

Alex Neal-Bullen
Neal-Bullen playing for Melbourne in July 2019
Personal information
Full name Alex Neal-Bullen
Nickname(s) Nibbla, nibs
Date of birth (1996-01-09) 9 January 1996
Original team(s) Glenelg (SANFL)
Draft No. 40, 2014 national draft
Debut Round 11, 2015, Melbourne vs. St Kilda, at Etihad Stadium
Height 182 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 80 kg (176 lb)
Position(s) Midfielder
Club information
Current club Melbourne
Number 30
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2015– Melbourne 141 (98)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 13, 2023.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Neal-Bullen was born into a sporting family, where his grandma, Cheryl Neal, became the first female jockey in history to win a race in Melbourne against men, achieved in 1979.[2] Her career ended prematurely after a fall which left her in a coma for eight months and paraplegic from the waist down; his grandmother's disability was one of the reasons behind Neal-Bullen deciding to study education and disability at Flinders University during 2014.[3]

Neal-Bullen played his junior career with Mitchell Park Football Club and the Glenelg Football Club and played nine games with the South Australian National Football League (SANFL) senior team in 2014.[4] He attended Sacred Heart College in Adelaide.[5] He achieved state selection for South Australia in the 2014 AFL Under 18 Championships and played in the winning grand final against Vic Metro, whilst also being named in the best players for the match.[6] His performances in the championships, where he was the leading clearance winner, and his performances in the SANFL led to him being regarded as an in-and-under player who made an impact on games.[5] In addition, his athletic background placed him in the elite bracket of endurance runners[7] and raised his prospects to being drafted inside the top twenty-five.[8]

AFL career
Neal-Bullen at training in November 2015

Neal-Bullen was recruited by the Melbourne Football Club with their third selection and the fortieth overall in the 2014 national draft.[9] After a delayed start to the 2015 season through knee injuries,[10][11] he made his debut in round eleven against St Kilda at Etihad Stadium.[12] He kicked his first goal the following week in the twenty-four point victory against Geelong at Simonds Stadium and finished the match with three goals.[13] After his debut, he missed only one match for the remainder of the season and managed eleven games overall with a total of six goals; furthermore, Melbourne football operations manager, Josh Mahoney, noted Neal-Bullen had "adapted really quickly to the demands of being an AFL player" which saw him extend his contract until the end of 2017, despite being in contract for the 2016 season.[14]

The 2016 season saw Neal-Bullen spend the majority of the season playing in the Victorian Football League (VFL) for Melbourne's affiliate team, the Casey Scorpions.[15] He played his first senior match for the season in the sixty-three point win against the Brisbane Lions at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round nine.[16] He maintained his spot the next week for the match against Port Adelaide, before being omitted for the round eleven match against Hawthorn at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.[17] He was recalled to the senior side for the six point loss against West Coast at Subiaco Oval in round eighteen[18] and was dropped the next week[19] before playing his final match of the season in the twenty-point loss against Carlton at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in round twenty-two, managing just four matches in his second year.[20] Despite failing to maintain a spot in the senior side, he had strong form in the VFL, which saw him play in seventeen matches, and he was named in the best players twelve times.[21] His performances saw him finish as the runner-up in Casey's best and fairest count, behind captain and former Gold Coast player, Jack Hutchins,[22] and a fifth-place finish in the J. J. Liston Trophy – awarded to the best and fairest player in the VFL – with thirteen votes.[23]

Statistics

Updated to the end of round 13, 2023.[24]

Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2015Melbourne30 1164604410420260.50.45.54.09.51.82.40
2016Melbourne30 4201937569110.50.04.89.314.02.32.80
2017Melbourne30 1915920415535961870.80.510.78.218.93.24.60
2018Melbourne30 252719246176422781181.10.89.87.016.93.14.73
2019Melbourne30 14791087618436590.50.67.75.413.12.64.20
2020[lower-alpha 1]Melbourne30 77036276314161.00.05.13.99.02.02.30
2021#Melbourne30 251511255153408801110.60.410.26.116.33.24.40
2022Melbourne30 23917184175359711050.40.78.07.615.63.14.60
2023Melbourne30 131061117618744680.80.58.55.814.43.45.2
Career 1419875122391921424136010.70.58.76.515.22.94.33

Notes

  1. The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

Team

References
  1. "The awards on offer at Best and Fairest".
  2. Lynch, Michael (4 November 2007). "Ready for the final act". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  3. Twomey, Callum (13 November 2014). "Educating Alex: one draft prospect's year of learning". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  4. Turner, Matt (30 November 2014). "Alex Neal-Bullen lands dream AFL Draft result by joining Melbourne and great mate Billy Stretch". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  5. Capel, Andrew (11 November 2014). "Tenacious Tiger Alex Neal-Bullen is made of the right stuff as he prepares for the AFL Draft". The Advertiser. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 18 August 2016.
  6. Di Giorgio, Giulio (3 July 2014). "South Australia wins back-to-back U18 championships". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  7. Twomey, Callum (11 November 2014). "16 days to the draft: Meet Alex Neal-Bullen". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  8. Twomey, Callum. "Late draft mail: Marchbank a top 10 bolter". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  9. Burgan, Matt (3 December 2014). "Stretch, ANB rapt to remain teammates". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  10. Guthrie, Ben (19 December 2014). "Demon draftee escapes serious injury after training mishap". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  11. Guthrie, Ben (27 January 2015). "Young Demon down again with knee injury". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  12. Harrington, Anna (12 June 2015). "Neal-Bullen to debut against Saints". MelbourneFC.com.au. BigPond. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
  13. Hanlon, Peter (21 June 2015). "Demons gatecrash Corey Enright's party with four-goal win". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  14. Guthrie, Ben (25 September 2015). "Demons lock in four youngsters to new deals". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  15. Australian Associated Press (20 May 2016). "Neal-Bullen couldn't be ignored: Roos". SBS Online. Special Broadcasting Service. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  16. Wood, Lauren (20 May 2016). "Paul Roos says Melbourne players are learning how to better deal with being favourites heading into games". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  17. Burgan, Matt (2 June 2016). "Melbourne makes five changes". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  18. King, Travis; Malcolm, Alex (22 July 2016). "Teams: Young Tiger returns, Bomber rested". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  19. Burgan, Matt (29 July 2016). "VB replaces ANB in the final side". MelbourneFC.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  20. Schmook, Nathan; Guthrie, Ben (19 August 2016). "TEAMS: Dogs drop Stringer, Cats rest two". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  21. "Alex Neal-Bullen". VFL.com.au. Fox Sports Pulse. 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  22. "VFL 2016 best-and-fairest winners". VFL.com.au. Fox Sports Pulse. 20 October 2016. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  23. Waterworth, Ben (13 September 2016). "Michael Gibbons gives AFL chances big boost by winning VFL JJ Liston Trophy". Fox Sports (Australia). News Corp Australia. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  24. "Alex Neal-Bullen". AFL Tables. Retrieved 14 June 2015.
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