Neville Jetta (born 12 February 1990) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is the current senior coach of the Fitzroy Stars in the Northern Football Netball League (NFNL).
| Neville Jetta | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 Jetta with Melbourne in July 2019 | |||
| Personal information | |||
| Full name | Neville Jetta | ||
| Date of birth | 12 February 1990 | ||
| Place of birth | Bunbury, Western Australia | ||
| Original team(s) | Swan Districts (WAFL) | ||
| Draft | No. 51, 2008 national draft | ||
| Debut | Round 1, 2009, Melbourne vs. North Melbourne, at MCG | ||
| Height | 180 cm (5 ft 11 in) | ||
| Weight | 82 kg (181 lb) | ||
| Position(s) | Defender | ||
| Playing career1 | |||
| Years | Club | Games (Goals) | |
| 2009–2021 | Melbourne | 159 (24) | |
| Representative team honours | |||
| Years | Team | Games (Goals) | |
| 2020 | All-Stars | 1 (0) | |
| International team honours | |||
| 2017 | Australia | 2 (0) | |
| Coaching career | |||
| Years | Club | Games (W–L–D) | |
| 2025– | Fitzroy Stars (NFNL) | ||
|
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of round 15, 2021. 2 State and international statistics correct as of 2017. | |||
| Career highlights | |||
| Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com | |||
Playing career
editJetta was drafted by Melbourne with the 51st selection in the 2008 national draft. He had previously been playing with Swan Districts in the West Australian Football League (WAFL). In September 2008 he was awarded the Mel Whinnen Medal for being the best player in the Swans colts grand final win.[1]
Both Jetta and fellow Melbourne draftee Jamie Bennell come from Bunbury and attended the same primary school. Jetta is the cousin of Lewis Jetta of the West Coast Eagles and also a distant cousin of Leroy Jetta, who played for Essendon.[2]
Jetta and Bennell were both named to make their AFL debuts together in the opening round of the 2009 AFL season.[3]
During the 2013 AFL season, Jetta fell out of favour at the Demons, playing only five games due to form and being unable to find a permanent position. This led to Jetta being delisted at the season's end. Due to the appointment of Paul Roos as senior coach, Jetta was provided with another chance and was redrafted as a rookie for the 2014 AFL season.
During the 2014 AFL season, Jetta was promoted to the senior list due to injuries to Jesse Hogan and Mitch Clark. Jetta cemented a spot in Melbourne's back six where he arguably played the best football of his career playing as a small defender, successfully negating small forwards such as Eddie Betts, Chad Wingard and Luke Dahlhaus.
In 2018, Jetta was awarded the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award for his work supporting Indigenous youth through various school-based programs as well as his ambassador roles with Red Cross and Headspace.[4]
Neville was the first Melbourne Football Club player to win the Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award, named in memory of Melbourne great Jim Stynes.
On 27 September 2021, Jetta announced his retirement from the AFL.[5]
Coaching career
editFollowing his retirement as a player, Jetta joined Collingwood as a development coach.[6]
On 8 October 2024, he was announced as the senior men's coach of the Fitzroy Stars Football Club for the 2025 Northern Football Netball League (NFNL) season.[7]
Statistics
edit- Statistics are correct to the end of round 15, 2021[8]
G
|
Goals | K
|
Kicks | D
|
Disposals | T
|
Tackles |
B
|
Behinds | H
|
Handballs | M
|
Marks |
| Season | Team | No. | Games | Totals | Averages (per game) | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | B | K | H | D | M | T | G | B | K | H | D | M | T | ||||
| 2009 | Melbourne | 39 | 15 | 7 | 8 | 115 | 64 | 179 | 43 | 39 | 0.5 | 0.5 | 7.7 | 4.3 | 11.9 | 2.9 | 2.6 |
| 2010 | Melbourne | 39 | 6 | 6 | 1 | 47 | 36 | 83 | 15 | 26 | 1.0 | 0.2 | 7.8 | 6.0 | 13.8 | 2.5 | 4.3 |
| 2011 | Melbourne | 39 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 56 | 64 | 120 | 34 | 42 | 0.6 | 0.3 | 6.2 | 7.1 | 13.3 | 3.8 | 4.7 |
| 2012 | Melbourne | 39 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 39 | 21 | 60 | 21 | 15 | 0.2 | 0.0 | 6.5 | 3.5 | 10.0 | 3.5 | 2.5 |
| 2013 | Melbourne | 39 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 26 | 18 | 44 | 9 | 20 | 0.0 | 0.2 | 5.2 | 3.6 | 8.8 | 1.8 | 4.0 |
| 2014 | Melbourne | 39 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 100 | 108 | 208 | 50 | 60 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 6.3 | 6.8 | 13.0 | 3.1 | 3.8 |
| 2015 | Melbourne | 39 | 16 | 1 | 0 | 76 | 116 | 192 | 43 | 41 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 4.7 | 7.3 | 12.0 | 2.7 | 2.6 |
| 2016 | Melbourne | 39 | 21 | 0 | 3 | 163 | 172 | 335 | 78 | 63 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 7.8 | 8.2 | 16.0 | 3.7 | 3.0 |
| 2017 | Melbourne | 39 | 22 | 3 | 0 | 151 | 164 | 315 | 94 | 68 | 0.1 | 0.0 | 6.9 | 7.5 | 14.4 | 4.3 | 3.1 |
| 2018 | Melbourne | 39 | 25 | 0 | 1 | 142 | 155 | 297 | 75 | 79 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.7 | 6.2 | 11.9 | 3.0 | 3.2 |
| 2019 | Melbourne | 39 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 36 | 75 | 19 | 20 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 5.6 | 5.1 | 10.7 | 2.7 | 2.9 |
| 2020[a] | Melbourne | 39 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 14 | 23 | 37 | 6 | 8 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 2.3 | 3.8 | 6.2 | 1.0 | 1.3 |
| 2021 | Melbourne | 39 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 20 | 20 | 40 | 13 | 7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | 8.0 | 2.6 | 1.4 |
| Career | 159 | 24 | 17 | 988 | 997 | 1985 | 500 | 487 | 0.2 | 0.1 | 6.2 | 6.3 | 12.5 | 3.1 | 3.1 | ||
- ^ 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.
Personal life
editJetta has a daughter and a son. He married his partner Samantha on 20 October 2013.[9]
References
edit- ^ "Whinnen Medalists". Retrieved 5 February 2018.
- ^ McFarlane, Glenn; Dees swoop on Nick Naitanui's mates; 30 November 2008
- ^ Matthews, Bruce (27 March 2009); Kick it to me, Jamie Bennell
- ^ "Community Leadership Award". Jim Stynes Foundation. Retrieved 2 October 2023.
- ^ "Neville Jetta calls time on career in red and blue". Melbourne Football Club. 27 September 2021. Retrieved 27 September 2021.
- ^ Beveridge, Riley (22 May 2024). "Coaching, playing, caring: Why Neville Jetta still gets a kick out of footy". AFL.com.au. Archived from the original on 15 September 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ "SENIOR COACHING ANNOUNCEMENT". Facebook. Fitzroy Stars Football & Netball Club. 8 October 2024. Archived from the original on 17 November 2024. Retrieved 17 November 2024.
- ^ "Neville Jetta". AFL Tables. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
- ^ Melbourne Demon marries in glam vintage wedding at Red Scooter
External links
edit
- Neville Jetta's profile on the official website of the Melbourne Football Club
- Neville Jetta's playing statistics from AFL Tables