Mark McVeigh

Mark McVeigh (born 26 January 1981) is a former professional Australian rules footballer for the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League. He has also served an assistant coach of the Greater Western Sydney Giants.[3]

Mark McVeigh
McVeigh in April 2018
Personal information
Full name Mark McVeigh
Nickname(s) Spike[1]
Date of birth (1981-01-26) 26 January 1981
Place of birth Sydney
Original team(s) Pennant Hills Demons[2]
NSW/ACT Rams (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 9, 1998 National Draft, Essendon
Height 184 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 85 kg (187 lb)
Position(s) Utility
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1999–2012 Essendon 232 (107)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2004 Australia 2 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2012.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Football career

Early career (1999–2004)

After having a slow start with a season high of 15 Disposals and 4 Marks, in his second season he suffered an injury and missed most of Essendons games. In McVeigh's third season however, it was clear that the game had grown on him as he stood up as an up-and-coming youngster. After playing 23 games in his third year of playing including the Grand Final against the Brisbane Lions in which Essendon lost, McVeigh had some promising stats with a consistent 11 – 18 in over half of every game he played. McVeigh also went on to play the next 3 seasons in stellar form with Essendon who reached 3 consecutive semi-finals in which McVeigh played in all.

Mid-career (2005–2008)

In the next 3 seasons McVeigh was a stand out performer for Essendon, with a high disposal & efficiency rate he was one of the club's main contributors and eventually was to become a part of the Leadership group and a role model to his younger rookies. With disposals in the high 20s and a career high of 36 disposals, McVeigh was determined to get Essendon back on track. In 2008 McVeigh suffered an injury which sidelined him for almost half the season, nevertheless he claimed 13 Brownlow votes to his name in only 14 games, McVeigh finished in the top 20.

Personal life

On 17 October 2009 McVeigh married his longtime girlfriend, Leanne Tucker. They have a daughter, Ariana, born in March 2011.[4] Mark also had a niece, Luella (the daughter of Sydney's Jarrad McVeigh), born on 25 July 2011 but she died from heart complications barely a month later. Following Essendon's seven-point victory over Port Adelaide, its first over the side since 2004, Mark 'blew a kiss towards to the heavens' in her memory. Essendon's players wore black armbands in the match.[5]

Retirement

McVeigh retired from professional Australian Rules Football on 29 August 2012. Injuries to his hip, knee and hamstring restricted McVeigh to only three games during the 2012 season. McVeigh stated, "It's a decision that I've been to-ing and fro-ing with for about eight weeks. But I've been very fortunate to part ways with the club on really good terms," during a press conference at Windy Hill. McVeigh shared the role of Vice-Captain of the Essendon Football Club with David Hille for most of his career. McVeigh played a total of 232 games and kicked 107 goals during his successful career at Essendon.

In 2013, following his retirement, McVeigh began a media career with the Seven Network and SEN 1116. He also began taking developmental coaching roles in New South Wales and Canberra. He coached the Under-16 and Under-18 NSW/ACT Rams teams in the national championships, and took a head coaching role at the Giants Academy, then transitioned into an assistant coaching role at the Greater Western Sydney Giants from 2015, serving as the defensive coach.[6]

On 12 January 2016, McVeigh was named as one of 34 past and present Essendon players found guilty over their use of illegal supplements during the 2012 AFL season. As a result, McVeigh was suspended from involvement in football for twenty-four months, which (due to back-dating and time served in provisional suspensions) saw him suspended until November 2016.[7] The terms of the suspension meant that McVeigh was unable to continue assistant coaching role during 2016.[8]

Statistics
Statistics are correct to end of AFL career[9][10]
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
1999 Essendon109254417611340.20.64.91.96.81.40.4
2000 Essendon10101202110.01.02.00.02.01.01.0
2001 Essendon102318111737424755570.80.57.53.210.72.42.5
2002 Essendon10247132236829173600.30.59.32.812.14.62.5
2003 Essendon1024972107828867640.40.38.83.212.02.82.7
2004 Essendon10183115510425955580.20.18.65.814.43.13.2
2005 Essendon1021782119030184530.30.410.04.314.34.02.5
2006 Essendon10219112169130777620.40.510.34.314.63.73.0
2007 Essendon10212016270116386104601.00.812.95.518.45.02.9
2008 Essendon10141472199631561441.00.515.66.922.54.43.1
2009 Essendon1012531108119133350.40.29.26.815.92.82.9
2010 Essendon1018741779226952520.40.29.85.114.92.92.9
2011 Essendon10235725210735965750.20.311.04.615.62.83.3
2012 Essendon103102811391530.30.09.33.713.05.01.0
Career 232 107 94 2290 1025 3315 755 628 0.5 0.4 9.9 4.4 14.3 3.3 2.7
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
gollark: EATW EATW EATW EATW!
gollark: It's *mostly* ignored, but TJ09.
gollark: This happened to me, attempting to run a hatchery with anti-sickness/viewbombing safety using data from EATW.
gollark: Technically yes. Realistically it's not enforced unless TJ09 doesn't like you.
gollark: Great idea.

References
  1. Timms, Daryl (29 August 2012). "Essendon's Mark McVeigh retires".
  2. "Mark McVeigh - Backline Coach". GWS Giants. Retrieved 26 December 2016.
  3. "Coaching Staff". gwsgiants.com.au. Greater Western Sydney Giants. Archived from the original on 9 September 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  4. McVeigh family welcome baby girl Archived 29 March 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  5. One from the heart – AFL.com.au Archived 10 October 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  6. "Mark McVeigh – backline coach". Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  7. Travis King (12 January 2016). "Guilty: court bans the Essendon 34 for 2016". Australian Football League. Retrieved 12 January 2016.
  8. Adam Curley (15 January 2016). "Giants scramble to cover loss of McVeigh". Australian Football League. Retrieved 17 January 2016.
  9. "Mark McVeigh statistics". AFL Tables. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
  10. "Mark McVeigh of the Essendon Bombers Career AFL Stats". footywire.com. Retrieved 26 October 2012.
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