David Wojcinski (born 18 September 1980) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition, and are the 2022 ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL).

Career

Wojcinski made his debut in 1998 . He won the club's Most Improved Player award for 2004. In 2007 he returned from a serious knee injury to play a major part for the Geelong side with his pace off half back. He was rewarded with a premiership medal in September. After injuring a tendon in his right finger during a 2008 pre-season practice match against the Richmond Tigers, Wojcinski found he required surgery to his little finger. He made a quick recovery from this surgery, playing against Essendon in Round 2. Whilst 2008 begun well for Wojcinski, Round 15 saw him injure an Achilles tendon, ruling him out until the Preliminary final against the Western Bulldogs more than two months later. His lack of match fitness jeopardized his selection for the Grand Final side, which was announced on 25 September 2008. The selection left Wojcinski out of the starting 22, and as an emergency, Paul Chapman was chosen over him after returning from his own injury. Mark Thompson, coach of the Geelong Cats, confirmed the reason for "Wojo" missing out was simply due to his bad run with injury. He quoted "fit and in good form he's (Wojcinski) in our best 22, no doubt. And everybody in the room, everybody that knows Geelong would know that,". David overcame the disappointment of missing out on Grand Final selection in 2008 to produce career best form over the following years. He rightfully won his spot back in the 2009 Grand Final as Geelong came from behind to beat St. Kilda and win their second premiership in three years. In 2011, David was one of only a handful of players to add a third premiership medal to his collection, as Geelong overpowered Collingwood in the final quarter of the Grand Final to be runaway victors. David's dash off half back and his 'take them on' attitude was a key component in Geelong's success, and during his career was one of the fastest and most exciting players to watch with his electrifying speed both from the half-back flank and through the midfield. David finished 2011 on 199 games and took until Round 11 2012 to play his 200th. He went on to play only 3 more games that season before announcing his retirement after the elimination final loss to

Fremantle Football Club The Fremantle Football Club, nicknamed the Dockers, is a professional Australian rules football club competing in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The team was founded in 1994 to represent the port city of ...

. He did, however, play a crucial role in the Cats VFL Premiership that same year, putting the icing on the cake of an excellent football career.

Statistics

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1999 File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...

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2000 File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 9 , , 1 , , 1 , , 49 , , 27 , , 76 , , 15 , , 14 , , 0.1 , , 0.1 , , 5.4 , , 3.0 , , 8.4 , , 1.7 , , 1.6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The September 11 attacks against the United States by Al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror, were a defining event of 2001. The United States led a Participants in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 6 , , 0 , , 0 , , 32 , , 18 , , 50 , , 4 , , 10 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 5.3 , , 3.0 , , 8.3 , , 0.7 , , 1.7 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 17 , , 4 , , 1 , , 119 , , 71 , , 190 , , 35 , , 35 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 7.0 , , 4.2 , , 11.2 , , 2.1 , , 2.1 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 18 , , 7 , , 4 , , 152 , , 71 , , 223 , , 38 , , 25 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 8.4 , , 3.9 , , 12.4 , , 2.1 , , 1.4 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 6 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 21 , , 9 , , 9 , , 172 , , 104 , , 276 , , 54 , , 40 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 8.2 , , 5.0 , , 13.1 , , 2.6 , , 1.9 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 2 , , 0 , , 2 , , 21 , , 8 , , 29 , , 7 , , 6 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 10.5 , , 4.0 , , 14.5 , , 3.5 , , 3.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 15 , , 1 , , 6 , , 116 , , 80 , , 196 , , 45 , , 30 , , 0.1 , , 0.4 , , 7.7 , , 5.3 , , 13.1 , , 3.0 , , 2.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 25 , , 14 , , 9 , , 196 , , 185 , , 381 , , 77 , , 52 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 7.8 , , 7.4 , , 15.2 , , 3.1 , , 2.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 14 , , 8 , , 8 , , 118 , , 116 , , 234 , , 46 , , 25 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 8.4 , , 8.3 , , 16.7 , , 3.3 , , 1.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 21 , , 3 , , 4 , , 153 , , 200 , , 353 , , 57 , , 64 , , 0.1 , , 0.2 , , 7.3 , , 9.5 , , 16.8 , , 2.7 , , 3.0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 24 , , 6 , , 5 , , 191 , , 232 , , 423 , , 92 , , 44 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 8.0 , , 9.7 , , 17.6 , , 3.8 , , 1.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center;" ,

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 22 , , 12 , , 9 , , 162 , , 173 , , 335 , , 76 , , 49 , , 0.6 , , 0.4 , , 7.4 , , 7.9 , , 15.2 , , 3.4 , , 2.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 40 , , 4 , , 0 , , 1 , , 33 , , 22 , , 55 , , 13 , , 14 , , 0.0 , , 0.2 , , 8.2 , , 5.5 , , 13.8 , , 3.2 , , 3.5 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 203 ! 66 ! 60 ! 1521 ! 1316 ! 2837 ! 559 ! 413 ! 0.3 ! 0.3 ! 7.5 ! 6.5 ! 14.0 ! 2.8 ! 2.0

Personal life

Wojcinski grew up in

Heyfield, Victoria Heyfield is a town in Victoria, Australia, with a population of 1,993. It is east of Melbourne, in the Shire of Wellington local government area. Located on the Thomson River, Heyfield is a gateway to the Victorian High Country. History In 1 ...

. He is the son of Lee and Charlie Wojcinski and has three sisters: Deanne, Sarah and Emma. Wojcinski married partner Casey Bell in October 2008 at Port Douglas, after much disappointment after being dropped from the AFL Grand Final. David and Casey have three children: sons Alfie (2006) and Monty (2009) and daughter Olive (2011). In 2008, Wojcinski was an ambassador for an anti-booze-fuelled-violence campaign run by the ''

Geelong Advertiser The ''Geelong Advertiser'' is a daily newspaper circulating in Geelong, Victoria, Australia, the Bellarine Peninsula, and surrounding areas. First published on 21 November 1840, the ''Geelong Advertiser'' is the oldest newspaper title in Victor ...

'' titled "Just Think". In this role, Wojcinski appeared in advertising alongside fellow ambassadors, and former Geelong teammates,

Tom Harley Thomas Harley (born 18 July 1978) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Port Adelaide Football Club and the Geelong Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). A defender at and , Harley is a two ...

and James Kelly. Wojcinski retired from AFL football in 2012. He continued to play football for the Newtown & Chilwell Eagles in the

Geelong Football League The Geelong Football Netball League is an Australian rules football and netball league in Victoria, Australia. It is widely regarded as the highest standard Australian rules football league in regional Victoria, with several former AFL players n ...

and later also coached them, until he resigned at the end of the 2015 season.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wojcinski, David 1980 births Living people Geelong Football Club players Geelong Football Club Premiership players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Australian people of Polish descent Gippsland Power players Newtown & Chilwell Football Club players Australia international rules football team players Three-time VFL/AFL Premiership players