Nick Gill

Nick Gill
Personal information
Full name	Nicholas Hunter Gill
Date of birth	25 August 1982
Original team(s)	Oakleigh Chargers
Draft	10th overall, 2000 AFL Pre-Season Draft Melbourne Rookie Draft Kangaroos 64th overall, 2006 Adelaide
Height / weight	192cm / 90 kg
Position(s)	Forward
Playing career^1
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
2001 2003 2007–09	Melbourne Kangaroos Adelaide	0 (0) 0 (0) 16 (20)
^1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2008.

Nick Gill (born 25 August 1982) is an Australian Rules football player currently playing for the Newcastle City Blues who also played for the Adelaide Crows before being delisted at the end of 2009. He was originally drafted by Melbourne in the 2000 pre-season draft but was delisted at the end of 2001. He then spent 2002 playing with Port Melbourne in the VFL and after a good season was selected by North Melbourne in the 2002 rookie draft. He was again delisted after only one season and in 2004 returned to play for the North Adelaide Roosters where he was runner-up in the Magarey Medal in 2005.^[1]

Return to AFL

His 2006 form with North Adelaide Roosters was not the best but impressive results at the South Australian state screening saw him drafted by the Crows with the 64th pick of the 2006 AFL National Draft. The Crows also drafted Gill as a mature-age recruit to act as insurance for the injured Trent Hentschel.

Despite not having the best of starts after being plagued by hamstring injuries at the start of the season, Gill eventually worked his way back into form to be picked for his first game in a forward pocket for the Round 17 clash against the Essendon Bombers in 2007.

On debut, Gill displayed his athleticism by taking a couple of impressive contested marks. His performance, however, was marred by considerable inaccuracy in front of goals although he did manage to convert a shot from point-blank range late in the game after receiving a free kick.

In his 2nd match against bitter home town rival Port Adelaide, Gill took an important mark in the fourth quarter and converted his shot close to goal, albeit from a reasonably tight angle. This spurred a four-goal run from the Crows that ultimately gave them a confidence-boosting 8-point win while keeping their season alive.

Gill's kicking abilities, however, remained under scrutiny after he failed to convert from directly in front in the first quarter in addition to poorly executing an attempted snap at goal which went straight up in the air, resulting in considerable embarrassment as well as laughter from the crowd and commentators.

Nick Gill played in Adelaide's round 19 loss to Geelong at Skilled Stadium and maintained his goal-per-game career, as he kicked 1 goal and 1 behind. Gill's poor kicking ability is well noticed amongst fans and media, even causing commentator Dennis Cometti to say "ohh Gill has it, this should be interesting", an obvious jibe at his poor kicking.

His poor kicking fortunes turned around however against the Western Bulldogs in round 20. He slotted two goals from nearly 50 metres out on reasonably difficult angles, causing fans at AAMI Stadium to rejoice. The second goal sealed the win for the Crows, ensuring their finals hopes were kept alive. It is well documented that Gill has been working very closely with coaching staff at the club to improve various aspects of his goal kicking technique and his efforts against the Bulldogs suggested that improvement has already come as a result.

In round 21 against the Brisbane Lions, Gill put in a brilliant performance across half forward collecting 19 disposals and taking 10 marks. His questionable goal kicking once again came under scrutinty following a return of 1.3, however, despite the poor kicking, his role in the side's 26 point win could not be under-valued and he was named in Adelaide's best players.

In Adelaide's final minor round match against Collingwood, Gill played a brilliant game, taking several big grabs and laying some great tackles. He also converted 2 vital goals leading Adelaide to a stirring 19 point win and cementing their spot in the final 8. Gill again featured in the best players.

In 2008 Gill was in and out of the side, becoming a fixture late in the season due to injuries to several key forwards. Gill continued to show glimpses of class, with a burst in the first quarter in round 17 against Sydney, where in the space of a few minutes he gave off two goals and kicked one himself. A few weeks later against Essendon, he scored his first "bag" of goals – five goals in a 56-point win. However, his kicking remained under scrutiny as he also missed a couple of shots he should have kicked late in the game.

Gill but struggled with injuries in 2009, and was unable to break into a suddenly potent Adelaide forward line. At the end of the season, he was one of five players delisted (or not offered another contract) by the Crows.^[2]

Radio

Nick was part of the SAFM breakfast show with Hayley, Rabbit & Cosi as the sports guru in Adelaide. Reading out the sport in news breaks and sometimes makes his own silly songs.^[3] In 2013 he spent time in Hobart doing breakfast radio with 100.9 Sea FM. In 2014 he replaced Ali Carle on Triple M Adelaide's Hot Breakfast. Nick currently hosts NXFM Newcastle's Breakfast Show with Sophie Tiller and is still creating silly songs. Nick also has a highly successful Instagram page called @mspaintguy where he creates weekly cartoons on MS Paint.

References

1. Rooster Reminisces (PDF) https://nafc.com.au/-/nafc/lib/pdfs/2016%20Rooster%20Reminisces%20-%20Rd%204%202006pdf.pdf. Retrieved 14 September 2016. Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. Brettig, Daniel (13 October 2009). "The Crows have delisted Robert Shirley". AdelaideNow. News Corp. Retrieved 14 October 2009.
3. Keily, Adam. "Summer Breakfast 2010".

External links

• Nick Gill's statistics from AFL Tables