Dean Polo

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**Dean Polo**
Personal Info
Birth	August 5, 1986, Gippsland, Victoria
Recruited from	Wy Yung, Gippsland U18
Height/Weight	187cm / 78kg
Playing Career¹
Debut	Round 6, May 6, 2006, Richmond vs. Essendon, at Melbourne Cricket Ground
Team(s)	Richmond (2006-) 14 games, 6 goals
¹ Statistics to end of Round 19, 2006 season
Career Highlights
AFL Rising Star nominee 2006

Dean Polo (born August 5, 1986) is an Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League.

Polo was drafted by the Richmond Tigers with the 20th pick in the 2004 AFL Draft.

In his first season at Richmond in 2005, Polo initially struggled with the move from a small country town to the "big city", and was dropped to the Coburg reserves early on in the season. However in the 2nd half of the season his performances earnt him a promotion to the Coburg seniors, where his performances continued to improve to the point where he was considered a possibility to debut for Richmond towards the end of the 2005 season.

After starring for Coburg in the early part of the 2006 season, Polo made his AFL debut in Round 6 against Essendon in the "Dreamtime at the G" game.

Polo starred in the game, collecting 28 disposals and kicking 3 goals, helping Richmond beat their arch-rivals Essendon.

Polo was rewarded with the Yiooken Award for his best-on-ground performance and was also nominated for the 2006 NAB Rising Star award.

As of Round 19 Dean has played 14 games for Richmond, averaging 14.7 disposals and kicking a total of 6 goals.

Is considered a crucial part of Richmond's rebuilding under coach Terry Wallace.

His parents Tracy, Michael Polo and step parents are fully supportive of him. He has also been well supported by his Host family in Melbourne who have nurtured his development over the past 3 years of his life. He ascended from Bairnsdale Secondary college. His peers and all of East Gippsland are fully supportive of his achievements.