Nick Dal Santo

Dal Santo played in his first officially credited win with St Kilda FC in the Round 9 win over Richmond at what is now Marvel Stadium, a 9 point win in club legend Robert Harvey's 250th game.

Dal Santo proved durable and learnt quickly in his first season, playing 18 of the last 19 matches, in an unfulfilling and underwhelming season for the team as a whole.

The Saints played exciting Football, and were involved in a string of close results during the year.

He completed his first ever 30 disposal plus match in St Kilda FC's 10th Premiership season win in a row against Carlton in Round 10, the clubs 14th win in a row for the year including the Wizard Cup Premiership.

The Saints were three games clear in first position on the AFL standings at the end of round 10.

The team had a difficult and oppressive second half of the season, qualifying a creditable 3rd on the official standings.

Nick Dal Santo (born 22 February 1984) is the senior coach of the St Kilda Football Club in the AFL Women's competition and a retired Australian rules footballer who played for St Kilda and North Melbourne in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Dal Santo was drafted by St Kilda with the thirteenth selection in the 2001 AFL Draft, which was obtained by St Kilda FC as part of a trade deal which sent 1997 Grand Final Player Barry Hall to Sydney.

He played his first pre-season cup match in St Kilda's win over Melbourne at what is now Marvel Stadium in the 2002 Wizard Home Loans Cup.

Nick Dal Santo made his AFL debut the same season against the Geelong Football Club in Round 4.

In his second game, against, he had a chance to win the match for his side after receiving a free kick on the full-time siren, only for his shot at goal to fall short, with the official scores stating the game was a draw.

In 2003 Dal Santo could not break into an improving St Kilda side early in the season.

When he did in Round 15 he did not look back, playing every match for the rest of the season, including four wins in row in Rounds 18 to 21.

He received his first ever best on ground 3 Brownlow Medal votes in a standout performance against Carlton in round 20, racking up 26 disposals and 3 goals.

He was establishing himself as a skilled and creative young midfielder, in a season where the Saints were Finals competitive, but did not qualify, improving rapidly in the second half of the season.

2004 started excellently, with Dal Santo playing in St Kilda's 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup winning side.

Wins over Adelaide, Richmond, Essendon, and Geelong saw St Kilda win the tournament.

Dal Santo had an excellent Premiership season, playing every match, averaging over 18 disposals a game, and kicking 11 goals for the year.

Dal Santo played in his first ever Finals Match win by 51 points against Sydney at the M.C.G. in the 2004 Semi-Finals, the Saints largest winning margin in a Finals match since the 1970's. On the field, St Kilda's season ended prematurely in the Preliminary Final at Football Park in Adelaide.

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?"

In 2005 Dal Santo took his game to a new level, racking up over 500 disposals for the year at an average of 22.6 per game.

He was a clear standout player in the league for the season, finishing a close third in the initial 2005 Brownlow Medal count.

Dal Santo was recognised for his excellent season with selection in the 2005 All-Australian Team as a midfield player, his first career All-Australian Team award.

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.

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.

He played every game and averaged 22 disposals for the year.

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, the Trevor Barker Award, in a season where St Kilda FC did not get to participate in the finals series.

Dal Santo played in St Kilda's 2008 NAB Cup winning side, the club's third pre-season cup win.

Dal Santo was dropped in Round 13 of the 2008 season due to lack of form.

St Kilda won 8 of its last 10 games for the regular season, officially qualifying an underwhelming 6th, and prematurely dumped from the final series in the Elimination Final in Week 1.

St Kilda had a dominant second half of the season, qualifying for the finals series in 4th officially after defeating Brisbane Lions in the Final Round by a club record 139 points.

St Kilda played Minor Premiers Adelaide in the 1st Qualifying Final at Football Park in Adelaide, winning an absolute classic by an official final margin of 8 points.

Dal Santo was outstanding in the match, completing 31 disposals in difficult slippery conditions.

It gave the team a bye through week two of the finals series.

The season prematurely ended in the Preliminary Final at the M.C.G., but continued off field through the disciplinary system until February 2022.