Introduction and Early Life

Nick Dal Santo is a professional Australia Rules footballer in the Australian Football League (AFL). He currently plays for the St. Kilda Football Club and was born on February 22, 1984; he is about 1.85 metres tall and weighs about 84kg in weight. He plays in the midfield position and wears number 26 of the club’s official team jersey. In the 2001 national AFL draft Nick was selected with the number thirteen priority pick.

Early Football Career

Nick started his early football career at the Bendigo Pioneers, from where he was drafted to St. Kilda. Dal Santo was able to make his debut with St. Kilda Football Club in 2002 after he was drafted during the 2001 national draft. His first game was against Geelong Football Club and first season at St. Kilda was basically a season for growth and acclimatising himself with playing in a tougher competition. The club could not achieve much that year but still Nick played eighteen matches that year. The turning point for his football career eventually came in round fifteen of the 2003 season. Nick was able to establish himself in the team as a force to reckon with in the midfield position and ever since has been improving from one level to another with his game getting better with each passing match.

Professional Football Career/Achievements

Nick Dal Santo featured in St. Kilda’s team that won the 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup which happened to be the club’s second AFL Cup win. The outstanding performance displayed by Dal Santo made a former Essendon Football Club describe or likened to him to Ian Stewart who had won the Brownlow Awards for three times. By this time, he began to attract praises and accolades of fans as a result of his outstanding performances. He was able to feature in all the matches of the season kicking about eleven goals. The following season of 2005 has been considered as a turning point in his career because of the strides he made in his performances. He was able to grab about five hundred disposals and he finished the season in third position in the Brownlow medal chart. He was also selected to join the All Australian team where he would play in the midfield position. This happened to be his first All Australian team invitation after a wonderful performance during the season.

During the 2006 season, many of St. Kilda’s players had one challenge or another due to the teams mounting injuries. This conferred so much responsibility on Dal Santo, but he went ahead to perform extremely well during this season. In 2007, with a new coach Nick was able to put forth an excellent performance that fetched him sixteen Brownlow votes for the year. He was also able to play his 100th consecutive game and was able to clinch fourth position in the Best and Fairest Awards for the club.

Nick also played a prominent role in the team that won the pre-season 2008 NAB cup which happened to be the third pre-season cup won by St. Kilda football club. He had a serious setback during this season when he was dropped as a result of inadequate performances. He took it as a challenge and was able to bounce back and make a good finish of the season. He was also able to make the All Australian team for the second time in his career. Nick renewed his initial contract with St. Kilda at the end of the 2010 season.