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Please help improve this article or section by expanding it. Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion. (September 2007) |
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Birth | February 22, 1984 , Bendigo, Victoria |
| Recruited from | Bendigo Under 18s |
| Height and weight | 185cm / 83kg |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 4, 21 April 2002, St Kilda vs. Geelong, at Skilled Stadium |
| Team(s) | St Kilda (2002-)
139 games, 71 goals |
| ¹ Statistics to end of Round 20, 2008 season | |
| Career highlights | |
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Nick Dal Santo (born 22 February 1984) is an Australian rules footballer in the AFL with the St Kilda Football Club.
Dal Santo was drafted with selection #13 overall by St Kilda in the 2001 AFL Draft and made his debut for them in 2002 against the Geelong Football Club. He managed 18 matches in his first year although he struggled at times in what was a poor season for the club [1].
Dal Santo could not break into an improving St Kilda side in early 2003, but when he did in Round 15 he did not look back, playing every match for the rest of the season and establishing himself as a skillful and creative midfielder.
Former Essendon Football Club coach Kevin Sheedy, during the 2005 season, likened Dal Santo to triple-Brownlow Medallist Ian Stewart for his exceptional skill and courage. In that same year, former Hawthorn champion Gary Ayres said this of Dal Santo in an interview: "He's got a high skill level on both sides of his body. He's a good reader of the play, he's got football smarts which are very hard to teach and the thing he does very well is he's got that ability to be composed when he uses the ball. He doesn't seem to get too flustered or rushes it, and that's a pretty special quality to be able to have when you play elite football because a lot of players can get the ball but do they make the right decision?"
Dal Santo came of age as a footbanller during the 2004 season, playing every match and kicking 11 goals in a St Kilda side that made a Preliminary Final [2]. In 2005 he took his game to a new level, racking up over 500 disposals for the year and finishing a close third in the 2005 Brownlow Medal, behind eventual winner Ben Cousins.
Early in the 2006 season St Kilda lost star midfielder Lenny Hayes to a knee ligament problem and the captain, Luke Ball, was also struggling with injury [3]. In Hayes' absence Dal Santo began to cop a heavy tag from opposition teams each week and this lessened his impact on the game. He still performed strongly for the year, however, and continued to be one of St Kilda's best players.
In 2007, under new coach Ross Lyon, Dal Santo played some match-winning football, notching up 16 Brownlow votes for the year. He also played his 100th consecutive game in Round 20 of 2007, which meant that he had not missed a game since mid-2003. He finished the year with a fourth place finish in the club's Best and Fairest award [4].
Dal Santo was dropped in Round 13 of the 2008 season due to lack of form. The temporary demotion spurred Dal Santo on to a good finish to the season - picking up 530 possessions (including 335 kicks), 12 goals and 75 tackles. Although his form was down on that of previous seasons, Dal Santo picked up Brownlow votes in two games and he also played a major part in St Kilda's semi final victory over Collingwood, with 32 possessions, five tackles and a goal.
Dal Santo is a member of St Kilda's leadership group and is contracted to the club until the end of the 2010 season.
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