Dean Polo (born 5 August 1986) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers, is an Australian rules football team playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Between its inception in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond in 1885 and 1907, the club competed in the Victo ...

and the

St Kilda Football Club The St Kilda Football Club, nicknamed the Saints, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. The club plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier league. The club ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

(AFL).

Playing career

2005–2010: Career with Richmond

Polo was drafted by the

with the 20th selection 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 Coburg () is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920. Until the revolution of 1918, it was ...

reserves early on in the season. However, in the second half of the season his performances earned him a promotion to the

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 Essendon may refer to: Australia *Electoral district of Essendon *Electoral district of Essendon and Flemington *Essendon, Victoria **Essendon railway station **Essendon Airport *Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League United King ...

in the "

Dreamtime at the 'G The Dreamtime at the 'G is an annual Australian rules football match between Australian Football League clubs and . Since the 2007 season the match has been held annually on the Saturday night of the AFL's "Indigenous Round", also known as th ...

" game. He starred in the game, collecting 28 disposals and kicking three goals, helping

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

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. In 2010 Polo was banned by the club for one week following a drunken incident in a Sydney hotel. This only added to the pain of Richmond's previously-winless start to the season. On 14 October 2010 he was delisted by the Tigers after 56 senior games in his six seasons at the club.

2011–2012: Career with St Kilda

On 18 November 2010, Polo was drafted by St Kilda for the 2011 season. He played 15 games and kicked 6 goals in his first season at the Saints. Polo was delisted by St Kilda after the 2012 season.

References

External links

* * Richmond Football Club players St Kilda Football Club players 1986 births Living people Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state) Gippsland Power players Sandringham Football Club players Coburg Football Club players {{AFL-bio-1980s-stub