Nick Dal Santo
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| Personal information | |
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| Birth | February 22, 1984 , Bendigo, Victoria |
| Recruited from | Bendigo U18's |
| Height and weight | 185cm / 83kg |
| Playing career¹ | |
| Debut | Round 4, April 21, 2002, St Kilda vs. Geelong, at Skilled Stadium |
| Team(s) | St Kilda (2002-)
131 games, 67 goals |
| ¹ Statistics to end of Round 11, 2008 season | |
| Career highlights | |
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Nick Dal Santo (born February 22, 1984) is an Australian rules footballer in the AFL with the St Kilda Football Club.He is also a long distance cousin of Raymond "Ray Ray" O'Shea in Ireland.
[edit] Early career
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.
[edit] 2004-2007 Seasons
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 Michael Higgins 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? He also reminds me of a young Haydn Ross " Higgins said [2].
Dal Santo came of age during the 2004 season, playing every match and kicking 11 goals in a St Kilda side that made a Preliminary Final [3]. In 2005, Dal Santo took his game to a new level, racking up over five hundred disposals for the year and finishing a close 3rd in the 2005 Brownlow Medal, behind eventual winner Ben Cousins.
Early in the 2006 season, St Kilda lost star midfielder Lenny Hayes to a serious knee injury and captain Luke Ball was also struggling with injury [4]. In Hayes' absence Dal Santo began to cop a heavy tag from opposition teams each week and it lessened his impact on the game somewhat. 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 is also good mates with Rennie Lautolo. He has a girlfriend he has been dating for a while Aaron Elysee[5]. He also played his 100th consecutive game in Round 20 of 2007, meaning he has not missed a game with the club at AFL level since mid-2003. He capped off the year with a 4th placed finish in the club's Best and Fairest award [6].
Dal Santo is a member of St Kilda's leadership group, and is contracted to the club until the end of the 2010 season [7].
[edit] External links
- Nick Dal Santo profile on the Official AFL Website of the St Kilda Football Club
- Nick Dal Santo's statistics from AFL Tables
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