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David Schwarz (footballer)

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David Schwarz
Personal information
Full name David Schwarz
Nickname(s) The Ox
Date of birth (1972-07-24) 24 July 1972 (age 52)
Original team(s) Sunbury
Height 195 cm (6 ft 5 in)
Weight 105 kg (231 lb)
Position(s) Forward
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1991–2002 Melbourne 173 (244)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
1999 Victoria 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2002.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 1999 season.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

David Schwarz (born 24 July 1972) is a former Australian rules footballer, who retired in 2002 after playing for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) for 12 seasons.

Football career

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Recruited from Sunbury, Schwarz made his AFL debut in 1991. As a player for the Melbourne Football Club, he was known as "the Ox" for his beast-like build. He played centre half-forward or full-forward, and in 1994 he kicked nine goals straight against Sydney.[1] He also had some stand-out finals performances this year, including baulking an opponent in the right forward pocket and taking on a second defender to score a goal, and a memorable blind turn against Carlton.[2] Schwarz was renowned for his strong marking, agility and athleticism, until he suffered numerous knee injuries, playing only two games in 1995 and missing the entire 1996 season.

Schwarz resumed playing in 1997 at a weight of 103 kilograms (227 lb), which was 3 kilograms (6.6 lb) above the weight he subsequently carried in 2000. He capped his effort by winning the club’s best and fairest in 1999 and passing the 100-game mark—something that was unthinkable a few years earlier when knee injuries left his career in tatters. In typical style, he celebrated with 20 of his closest mates and his mother, who had brought him up single-handedly since the age of eight. His father had been murdered.[3]

Late in his playing career, just after his 150th game, he appeared as a panellist on the AFL Footy Show in a memorable show where Sam Newman threw a pie in his face (a reference to being a gift from the Pies for Melbourne's disappointing performance the week before).[4] A visibly angry Schwarz pushed Newman down to the ground, with the latter lucky not to suffer serious injury. However, Newman later admitted the whole bit was a setup.[5]

He retired in the middle of 2002 having played 173 matches and kicking 244 goals.

Playing statistics

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[6]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Led the league after season and finals
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1991 Melbourne 44 6 7 3 39 16 55 16 1 1.2 0.5 6.5 2.7 9.2 2.7 0.2
1992 Melbourne 5 22 20 7 239 115 354 112 40 0.9 0.3 10.9 5.2 16.1 5.1 1.8
1993 Melbourne 5 9 5 7 72 42 114 49 10 0.6 0.8 8.0 4.7 12.7 5.4 1.1
1994 Melbourne 5 25 60 23 280 126 406 173 34 2.4 0.9 11.2 5.0 16.2 6.9 1.4
1995 Melbourne 5 2 3 1 5 5 10 4 0 1.5 0.5 2.5 2.5 5.0 2.0 0.0
1996 Melbourne 5 0 — — — — — — — — — — — — — —
1997 Melbourne 5 10 18 15 57 18 75 37 4 1.8 1.5 5.7 1.8 7.5 3.7 0.4
1998 Melbourne 5 18 29 21 123 63 186 56 22 1.6 1.2 6.8 3.5 10.3 3.1 1.2
1999 Melbourne 5 22 38 27 206 133 339 107 18 1.7 1.2 9.4 6.0 15.4 4.9 0.8
2000 Melbourne 5 25 31 35 246 138 384 117 43 1.2 1.4 9.8 5.5 15.4 4.7 1.7
2001 Melbourne 5 21 21 16 231 123 354 105 53 1.0 0.8 11.0 5.9 16.9 5.0 2.5
2002 Melbourne 5 13 11 7 91 43 134 31 23 0.8 0.5 7.0 3.3 10.3 2.4 1.8
Career 173 243 162 1589 822 2411 807 248 1.4 0.9 9.2 4.8 13.9 4.7 1.4

Media career

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Following his football career, Schwarz joined new sport radio station SEN 1116 in 2005 in Melbourne; at his time on SEN, he admitted that during his football career he had a gambling problem and whittled away most of his income. He hosted The Run Home on SEN from 3–7 pm weekdays with Mark Allen until 8 December 2017. From 2007 to 2010, Schwarz was a part of Channel Seven's AFL commentary team.

In 2018, Schwarz joined Macquarie sports radio alongside Mark Allen to host the drive slot after their dismissals from SEN. On 1 November 2019, the pair concluded their term at MSR as the station's entire line-up was axed.

Since 2020, Schwarz and Allen present The Twilight Zone on 3AW from 5–7pm on Saturdays and Sundays, mainly during the AFL off-season. He is also a commentator with 3AW and its Perth sister station 6PR.

References

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  1. ^ "Sydney defeated by Melbourne Round 24, Sunday, 4th September 1994". FootyWire. 4 September 1994. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  2. ^ SaturdayFudge (28 August 2009). David Schwarz - vintage ox 1994 finals. Retrieved 29 May 2024 – via YouTube.
  3. ^ Niall, Jake (25 May 2007). "David Schwarz's biggest battle". Fairfax Digital. Retrieved 29 April 2009.
  4. ^ Fabian Amuso (14 April 2011). The AFL Footy Show: Top Five Moments from 500 Episodes (7/4/2011). Retrieved 29 May 2024 – via YouTube.
  5. ^ "Sam Newman says David Schwarz knew pie in face was a setup".
  6. ^ "David Schwarz". AFL Tables. Retrieved 3 July 2014.
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