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Alex Neal-Bullen
Neal-Bullen playing for Melbourne in July 2019
Personal information
Full name Alex Neal-Bullen
Nickname(s) Nibbla, ANB
Date of birth (1996-01-09) 9 January 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth South Australia
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 Adelaide
Number 28
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2015–2024 Melbourne 176 (116)
2025– Adelaide 000 00(0)
Total 176 (116)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2024.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Alex Neal-Bullen (born 9 January 1996) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Adelaide 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 pick 40 of the 2014 AFL draft and he made his AFL debut during the 2015 season.

Early life

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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.[1] 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.[2]

Born and raised in South Australia, Neal-Bullen grew up supporting the Adelaide Crows.[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

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Neal-Bullen at training in November 2015

Melbourne

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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]

Neal-Bullen's Demons, who finished first on the AFL ladder in 2021, won the premiership in the 2021 AFL Grand Final.[24] He kicked a goal and had 24 disposals at Perth Stadium. Neal-Bullen was awarded with the Norm Smith Memorial Trophy – a coaches' award – at Melbourne's best and fairest awards night following their historic season.[25] The Demons finished in the top four in the following two seasons, but did not win a final.[26]

One of Neal-Bullen's best AFL performances to date came in his home state against Port Adelaide in 2024, when he kicked two goals along with 24 disposals.[27] In his final season at the Demons, Neal-Bullen finished third in the Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Trophy, awarded to the best and fairest player at Melbourne during the year.[28]

Adelaide

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In August of 2024, despite being contracted at Melbourne until the end of 2026,[29] Neal-Bullen confirmed his request to be traded to his home state of South Australia for family reasons.[30] After the conclusion of Melbourne's failed 2024 season, he would nominate Adelaide as his preferred destination, the request made official by the Crows a few weeks later.[31] He was traded on 7 October, the first day of the 2024 trade period.[3][32]

Statistics

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Updated to the end of 2024.[33]

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
2015 Melbourne 30 11 6 4 60 44 104 20 26 0.5 0.4 5.5 4.0 9.5 1.8 2.4 0
2016 Melbourne 30 4 2 0 19 37 56 9 11 0.5 0.0 4.8 9.3 14.0 2.3 2.8 0
2017 Melbourne 30 19 15 9 204 155 359 61 87 0.8 0.5 10.7 8.2 18.9 3.2 4.6 0
2018 Melbourne 30 25 27 19 246 176 422 78 118 1.1 0.8 9.8 7.0 16.9 3.1 4.7 3
2019 Melbourne 30 14 7 9 108 76 184 36 59 0.5 0.6 7.7 5.4 13.1 2.6 4.2 0
2020[a] Melbourne 30 7 7 0 36 27 63 14 16 1.0 0.0 5.1 3.9 9.0 2.0 2.3 0
2021# Melbourne 30 25 15 11 255 153 408 80 111 0.6 0.4 10.2 6.1 16.3 3.2 4.4 0
2022 Melbourne 30 23 9 17 184 175 359 71 105 0.4 0.7 8.0 7.6 15.6 3.1 4.6 0
2023 Melbourne 30 25 19 11 228 159 387 77 118 0.8 0.4 9.1 6.4 15.5 3.1 4.7 0
2024 Melbourne 30 23 9 6 224 209 433 77 117 0.4 0.3 9.7 9.1 18.8 3.3 5.1 0
Career 176 116 86 1564 1211 2775 523 769 0.7 0.5 8.9 6.9 15.8 3.0 4.4 3

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

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Team

Individual

References

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  1. ^ Lynch, Michael (4 November 2007). "Ready for the final act". The Age. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  2. ^ Twomey, Callum (13 November 2014). "Educating Alex: one draft prospect's year of learning". AFL.com.au. Bigpond. Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  3. ^ a b @AFL_House (7 October 2024). "Paperwork approved" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  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. ^ a b 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. ^ Gould, Russell (2 February 2022). "The AFL dynasty talk driving reigning premiers… and the ace up their sleeve". Fox Footy.
  25. ^ a b Gibson, Ben (17 December 2021). "2021 Best and Fairest – All the winners".
  26. ^ AAP (26 February 2024). "Demons 'embarrassed' by straight-sets finals failures". afl.com.au.
  27. ^ "Demons hold nerve in milestone win". 30 March 2024. Retrieved 2 September 2024.
  28. ^ "Viney claims second Keith 'Bluey' Truscott Memorial Trophy". 4 October 2024.
  29. ^ "Neal-Bullen signs three-year deal". melbournefc.com.au. 28 April 2024.
  30. ^ "Premiership Demon requests trade home to South Australia". afl.com.au. AFL. 14 August 2024. Retrieved 14 August 2024.
  31. ^ "Club Statement: Alex Neal-Bullen". afc.com.au. 2 September 2024.
  32. ^ "Neal-Bullen joins Crows". Adelaide FC. 7 October 2024. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
  33. ^ "Alex Neal-Bullen". AFL Tables. Retrieved 7 October 2024.
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