HILLE, David

David Hille was a late starter to Australian Rules football as in his earlier years he was more interested in basketball, volleyball and Rugby League. He was recruited to the Club with pick 40 in the 2000 AFL National Draft from Dandenong Stingrays. He became a very reliable and consistent ruckman for the Club, known as a "gentle giant" because of his fair play and sportsmanship.

He made his debut in Round 8 in a win over Melbourne and played five more games for the year. He only missed three games in 2002 and played consistently for the next seven seasons. He won the Most Improved Player award in 2003 and the Striving for Excellence award in 2006.

His leadership was acknowledged in 2006 when he was appointed stand-in captain due to a serious hamstring injury to Matthew Lloyd. He was vice-captain between 2007-2012.

He had an outstanding year in 2008 and won the Crichton Medal that year but suffered a serious knee injury just two minutes into the 2009 Anzac Day game. He needed a total knee reconstruction and missed the rest of the season. He returned to his consistently good form in 2010 and won the Yiooken Award in that year's Dreamtime game.

He was troubled by injury in the first half of the 2012 season but returned to bolster the team's strength and to be a mentor to the emerging Paddy Ryder and Tom Bellchambers.

He only managed four games in 2013 and decided to retire at the end of the season.

One of his most memorable games was in Round 20, 2010, (against Collingwood) which was supporting the 40th year of the Transport Accident Commission's "buckle-up" campaign. The TAC was a long-time Essendon sponsor and the players wore a one-off guernsey featuring a red seatbelt rather than the Club's traditional red sash in the game. Hille agreed to be the face of the campaign as he had survived a horrific car crash as a teenager, when three of his friends were killed.

Since his retirement, Hille has had a successful business career, including working with Deloitte Real Estate, Sydney Metro, and as capital transactions manager at the Coles Group in Sydney.