Nick Dal Santo

=Draft and Debut: 2001-2002= St Kilda picked Nick Dal Santo with the number 13 selection in the 2001 National Draft after St Kilda traded Barry Hall and draft pick 53 (used to select Daniel Hunt) to Sydney in exchange for the number 13 selection. The 2001 National Draft has frequently been referred to as a super draft given that the first three selections were Luke Hodge, Luke Ball and Chris Judd. Of the remaining players selected in the top 20 the ones that have had the most accomplished careers are Dal Santo, current St Kilda midfielder/half back Jason Gram and Geelong pair Jimmy Bartel and James Kelly who were taken with selections 7 and 17 respectively. Jason Gram, selected with pick 19, spent two seasons at Brisbane for a total of only two games, finding it very difficult to break into a Lions team that won the AFL premiership in these two seasons, before he was traded to St Kilda in the 2003 trade period.

The 2001 National Draft was an extremely successful one for the St Kilda Football Club as they selected four players that would become 100 plus game players for the Saints in Luke Ball, Xavier Clarke, Dal Santo and Leigh Montagna. Matt Maguire after being stranded on 99 games at St Kilda throughout the 2009 season became a Brisbane Lions at the 2009 National Draft and played his 100th game in Round 1 2010 for the Lions, interestingly enough 2009 was also the final season at St Kilda for fellow 2001 draftees Clarke (now also at Brisbane) and Ball (now at Collingwood).

Dal Santo was recruited from Sandhurst/Bendigo Under 18s, and at the time of being drafted the 17 year-old was 182 cm and only 71 kilograms. AFL 2002 described Nick as a â€œâ€™medium-sized forward who can also play in the midfield. Hard at the ball and skilful, he represented Victoria Country at Under 18 level and was an AIS/AFL Academy member.â€ 1

A Robert Harvey calf injury and Nathan Burke knee injury resulted in Dal Santo making his debut ahead of schedule in the Round 4 2002 match against Geelong. The match is remembered much more by St Kilda people for Dal Santoâ€™s debut than the outcome of the match as Geelong thrashed St Kilda by 122 points at Skilled Stadium. The Saints had only four goalkickers on that day with debutant Dal Santo being one of them. Harvey was restricted to only 10 games in 2002 due to various injuries, with Burke faring even worse, being kept on the sidelines from round four onwards after injuring his knee. One of the few positives of these injuries to two of the All-Time St Kilda greats is that it gave players like Dal Santo an opportunity to regularly play in the seniors. Dal Santo only missed one more game for the season, spending round 16 in the VFL, and played 18 AFL matches, averaging 6.3 kicks, 4.2 handballs and a disposal efficiency of 82.1%.

In Dal Santoâ€™s second game â€“ the infamous draw against Sydney he gave the football world a glimpse of his potential, having 25 disposals in a congested game that featured much flooding. In his debut season Dal Santo showed great peripheral vision and composure. During the second half of the season Dal Santo was played off the bench as the St Kilda coaching staff protected his light frame. Dal Santo failed to receive a Rising Star nomination during a season in which the top four were teammate Nick Riewoldt 34 votes, Chris Judd 29 votes, Luke Hodge 12 votes and Shaun Burgoyne 10 votes.

 =2003 Season= In 2003 classy midfielder Dal Santo averaged 11.5 kicks, 7.5 handballs and an impressive disposal efficiency of 84.9%. The majority of his 2003 season was destroyed by a nagging quad injury, St Kilda took a conservative approach and gave him six games in the VFL before he returned to AFL level in Round 15. Dal Santo averaged 19 disposals in the remaining eight games which resulted in five wins for the Saints including four consecutive 10 goal plus victories from round 18 to round 21. Dal Santo mainly played on a wing but also spent time at half forward. In Round 20 against Carlton, Dal Santo received the 3 Brownlow Medal votes for a three goal, 26 possession game that St Kilda won by 91 points at Optus Oval against Carlton.

 =2004 Season= By the start of the 2004 season Dal Santo had grown three centimetres from when he was drafted to now be 185 centimetres, and had added 12 kilograms to strengthen up his once light frame to be 83 kilograms. In his first two seasons Dal Santoâ€™s workload had been effectively managed by the St Kilda Football club however, with only 26 games experience to the end of 2003 Nick was given an enhanced workload and increased responsibility during the 2004 season and he did not let the Saints down.

Dal Santoâ€™s decision making, poise, composure and and left foot kicking were exemplary during a 2004 season in which he averaged 11.4 kicks, 7.5 handballs and a disposal efficiency of 81.1%. Dal Santo had 16 games with 18 or more possessions, an amazing improvement considering he had only achieved this feat a combined six times during his first two seasons.

Dal Santo had arguably his best match for the season against Carlton kicking two goals and having 32 possessions in a Round 10, 108 point victory at the Telstra Dome. For the second straight time against Carlton the umpires judged Dal Santo to be best afield. Dal Santo polled 12 Brownlow Medal votes, ranked second of the St Kilda players behind Riewoldt, and equal 16th overall. Dal Santo was rewarded for his outstanding 2004 season by being selected to represent Australia in the International Rules series. =2005 Season= During the 2005 season Dal Santo averaged 14.2 kicks, and 8.4 handballs with a disposal efficiency of 81.8%. It would surprise many to learn that 39.4% of Dal Santoâ€™s possessions were contested. This proportion was greater than several midfielders that are held in higher regard for their inside work including Western Bulldogs 7 time best and fairest winner Scott West (35.2%), 2002 Brownlow Medalist Simon Black (37.0%), 2008 premiership captain Sam Mitchell (32.1%) and current Melbourne captain James McDonald (33.2%).

â€œHis kicking efficiency of 85% in 2005 was elite, ranking behind only Paul Hasleby of the competitions inside midfielders.â€2 Of the players in the AFL that played 10 games or more during the 2005 season Champion Data ranked Nick Dal Santo as the 13th most consistent player in the competition. Dal Santo was one of two Saints in the top 20, with sixth placed Lenny Hayes being the other.

Dal Santo earned his first All-Australian selection after leading St Kilda in kicks and was ranked fifth for tackles, marks and disposals. In Round 18 he had 25 possessions and kicked five goals straight in the Saints 88 point win over Melbourne. Dal Santoâ€™s superb skills also stood out in St Kildaâ€™s brilliant eight point win over Adelaide in a Qualifying final in the wet at AAMI Stadium.

Nick Dal Santo finished third in the Brownlow Medal in 2005 on 18 votes behind West Coast Eagles midfielders Ben Cousins on 20 votes and Daniel Kerr on 19 votes.

Nick nominated himself for the St Kilda 2005 leadership group but missed out, however he admitted â€œif I was selecting the leadership group, I probably wouldnâ€™t have selected me either, I just wanted to express that I wanted to help others and was interested in leading the group.â€ A year later in 2006 after further developing as a player and displaying greater leadership skills during the 2005 season, Dal Santo again nominated himself to be voted into St Kildaâ€™s eight member leadership group, this time he was successful.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;"> =2006 Season= <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Nick finished equal fifth in St Kildaâ€™s 2006 best and fairest with Brendon Goddard, however the season posed more challenges to Dal Santo than the previous couple of years. Over the previous two seasons Dal Santo had become an elite midfielder, which in itself may have resulted in him being tagged on a more regular basis, however with fellow All-Australians Lenny Hayes injuring his ACL in round 9 and Luke Ball having on-going groin problems throughout the season Dal Santo being tagged was the rule rather than the exception. Even though Dal Santo was being regularly tagged his numbers were very similar to the previous season with averages of 14.0 kicks (down 0.2 on 2005), 8.1 handballs (down 0.3 on 2005) and a disposal efficiency of 80.2% which was 1.6% lower than 2005. The reduction in minutes from 115 in 2005 to 107 in 2006 was due to clubs better understanding the benefits of rotating their midfielders and the Saints wanting to manage the workload of their two remaining fully fit A-grade midfielders, Dal Santo and eight time All-Australian Robert Harvey.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The silky skilled Dal Santo led St Kilda in kicks, disposals and loose-ball gets and was ranked second for hard-ball gets and tackles. Dal Santo polled 10 Brownlow Medals votes, second to Robert Harvey at St Kilda with 12 votes. Remarkably it was the ninth (and final time) that Harvey polled 11 or more Brownlow Medals in a season during his illustrious career. It is a great achievement for a player to poll 11 Brownlow Medal votes in a single season, but for Harvey to accomplish this feat in nine seasons is almost beyond comprehension. At 26 years of age Dal Santo is the current Saint best placed to challenge Harveyâ€™s amazing record, however even he isnâ€™t yet half-way to catching Harvey, having polled 11 or more votes four times, being, 2004-12, 2005-18, 2007-16 and 2009-17.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;"> =2007 Season= <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">During 2007 Dal Santo was ranked second at St Kilda for hard-ball gets and third for tackles. For the fourth straight season Dal Santo did not miss a game, bringing his consecutive games streak up to 102. In 2007 Dal Santo averaged 104 minutes, 13.2 kicks, 8.3 handballs and a disposal efficiency of 82.4%. Dal Santo was the highest polling Saint at the Brownlow Medal and finished equal 11th overall. Dal Santo continued to remain composed and never appeared rushed when having the ball in his hands, allowing him to continue to make great decisions when disposing of the ball.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;"> =2008 Season= <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Dal Santo was dropped in Round 13, 2008 after having played 114 consecutive AFL games, small forward Stephen Milne, another experienced Saint was also dropped. After 12 rounds the Saints had won five games and lost seven to be tenth on the ladder, one game behind eighth placed Carlton. . Dal Santo and Milne only spent one week in the VFL, missing the Saints Round 13 eight point victory against Fremantle at the Telstra Dome. It had been six years since Dal Santo had played in the VFL when returning after his 2003 quad injury. Milne and Dal Santo both returned in Round 14 to be amongst St Kildaâ€™s best players in the 15 point victory against the Kangaroos.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">To an outsider it appeared harsh when Dal Santo was dropped for Round 13 of the 2008 home and away season, given that the 2009 AFL Record season guide listed Nick in St Kildaâ€™s best players for eight of the first 12 rounds in 2008 and during these 12 games Dal Santo averaged 22 disposals a game, up 0.5 on his 2007 season. The widely held view is that the St Kilda coaching staff felt that Dal Santo did not win enough of his own ball or wasnâ€™t doing enough of the team things. In each season of his career up until 2008 his contested possessions had comprised at least 36% of his possessions however in 2008 his contested possessions dropped significantly to 28.1%. Given that Dal Santo and Milne only spent one week in the VFL, it is likely that dropping them both was done by St Kilda to send a message to the entire playing list, not just these two players and encourage the entire team to focus more on the team aspects of their game and on sacrificial acts to assist teammates.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Whatever the reasons, the entire St Kilda football team looked rejuvenated and like a different team after Dal Santo and Milne were dropped. That Dal Santo took the feedback on board from the St Kilda coaches and has been able to adjust his game to become an even better player is a credit to him as some players arenâ€™t prepared to adapt their game for the greater good of the team.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In the season and a half before Dal Santo and Milne were dropped St Kilda were a middle of the road team winning 16 games out of 34 from the start of the 2007 season, since then the Saints have transformed into one of the benchmarks of the AFL winning 34 games out of their next 44. Whilst the effect that dropping Dal Santo and Milne has only been a small factor in the transformation of the St Kilda football team it has played its part nonetheless.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2008 Dal Santo averaged 14.0 kicks, 8.1 handballs and a disposal efficiency of 75.8%. Dal Santo was ranked equal second at St Kilda for centre clearances, and was ranked fourth for kicks, goal assists and contested possessions. As a sign of how consistent Dal Santo had been in recent seasons it was the fourth straight year that he had averaged between 21.5 and 22.6 disposals per game.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;"> =2009 Season= <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2009 Dal Santo along with the rest of the St Kilda team placed a greater emphasis on applying defensive pressure which resulted in his tackles increasing from 3.2 per game in 2008 to 4.1 per game in 2009. In 20 out of 24 games in 2009 Dal Santo had 20 or more disposals, and was kept to less than 19 disposals only twice. Nick recorded career bests in inside 50s and clearances, averaging 4.5 and 4.7 per game respectively. Dal Santo averaged 104 minutes (up three minutes on 2008), 16.1 kicks, 11.8 handballs and a disposal efficiency of 72.8%. Whilst Nickâ€™s disposal efficiency did drop, he recorded career best averages for kicks and handballs.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Nick Dal Santo was one of three Saints to finish in the top 10 of 2009 AFL Coaches Associationâ€™s Player of the Year Award, Dal Santo finished fourth with 82 votes, St Kilda Captain Nick Riewoldt finished third on 83 votes with midfielder Lenny Hayes ninth on 67 votes. Gary Ablett won the award for the third straight year with 104 votes with fellow Brownlow Medalist Chris Judd finishing second on 91 votes.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Nick was rewarded for his great 2009 season with All-Australian honours for the second time in his career. In 2009 Dal Santo was â€œranked in the top 10 in the AFL during the home and away season for disposals, kicks and loose-ball gets.â€ Dal Santo kicked a career best 16 goals during the 2009 season, having by far his most accurate season, only registering five behinds and recording an accuracy percentage of 76.2%.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Dal Santo finished second at St Kilda for hard-ball gets with 93, only two behind the leading Saint Lenny Hayes, and 14 ahead of the third place Saint Leigh Montagna. Nick ranked ninth in the AFL for running bounces during a 2009 season in which according to Champion Data he had only three games that were below that of the average AFL midfielder during the home and away season.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Nick polled 17 votes in the 2009 Brownlow Medal to finish equal sixth behind the top three of Gary Ablett, Chris Judd and teammate Hayes. Dal Santo finished an equal career best fourth in St Kildaâ€™s 2009 best and fairest on 618 votes, behind, Riewoldt 642, Goddard 638 and Leigh Montagna 635. Nick has had five top five finishes in St Kildaâ€™s best and fairest in the past six years, the only exception being 2008 when he failed to finish in the top 10. Dal Santo is one of few midfielders in the AFL to have at least 24 score assists in each season from 2004 to 2009.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;"> =2010 Season= <p style="line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">In 2010 Dal Santo averaed 26 disposals a game, ranked third at St Kilda for possessions and 18th in the AFL. He was also ranked third at St Kilda and 20th in the AFL for contested possessions. Dal Santo was instrumental in St Kildaâ€™s Round 4, 15 point victory against Fremantle at Etihad Stadium having, 17 kicks, 5 marks, 18 handballs and kicking two goals. His contested possessions proportion has returned to its pre 2008 level having increased from 31.0% in 2009 to 35.7% in 2010.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Nick Dal Santoâ€™s awareness, and composure to never appear to be under pressure and to evade tackles is in the absolute elite of the AFL. During Dal Santoâ€™s career only one Saint has been on a par or better than Nick in relation to displaying these attributes, four time best and fairest winner Robert Harvey. Dal Santoâ€™s awareness and ability to create space and make opponents look as though they are standing still prompted the nickname â€˜The Matrixâ€™ several years ago.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">â€œDal Santo was prominent in a number of statistical categories in 2005 after an elite season as an inside midfielder.â€ Many football observers donâ€™t recognise how effective Dal Santo is at winning the contested ball which is partly due to Dal Santo frequently having more space with which to move than most players, however unlike most players in the competition often it is Dal Santo creating space for himself with his creativity after winning the hard-ball in heavy traffic. It appears that Nick Dal Santo suffers from Mark Waugh syndrome in that with his superior composure and awareness he can make things look very easy and due to this people have the perception that he is not working hard enough.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Even though he has kicked only 22 goals since the start of the 2009 season, Nick Dal Santo is regularly the player to kick-start the Saints into action, and in five of the Saints past 23 matches it has been Dal Santo that has kicked St Kildaâ€™s first goal. Dal Santo leads all Saints in this regard with the next best being Justin Koschitzke 4, James Gwilt 3 and Nick Riewoldt 3. Dal Santo had at least 16 goal assists in each of the 2007, 2008 and 2009 seasons. No other St Kilda midfielder and only one forward, Nick Riewoldt was also able to achieve this feat.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">Watching Dal Santo in full flight with his exceptional balance, composure, awareness and silky skills is like watching an artist at work. When Nick is asked after games how he had the poise and peripheral vision to create time and space seemingly from nothing, he himself has trouble explaining it and says â€œIf you think about it too much and try to create it, time passes you by and you miss the chance to get through a gap or give the ball off.â€ These attributes are difficult to teach, and even to explain as they rely more on instinct than anything else.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">The St Kilda Football Club, its supporters and even Nickâ€™s teammates are fortunate to be able to regularly watch the Dal Santo exhibition of exceptional balance, composure, awareness and silky skills, which thankfully still has many years left to run.

<p style="margin-top:0.4em;margin-bottom:0.5em;line-height:19.1875px;color:rgb(0,0,0);font-family:sans-serif;">As a testament to an outstanding 2010 season, Dal Santo finished 5th in the 2010 Trevor Barker Award. =Statistics=