Nick Dal Santo (born 22 February 1984) is the senior coach of the

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

in the

AFL Women's AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules football competition for women's Australian rules football, female players. The 2017 AFL Women's season, first season of the l ...

competition and a retired

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 Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

er who played for St Kilda and

North Melbourne North Melbourne is an inner-city suburb in Melbourne, Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia, north-west of Melbourne's Melbourne central business district, Central Business District, located within the City of Melbourne Local government ar ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the pre-eminent professional sports, professional competition of Australian rules football. It was originally named the Victorian Football League (VFL) and was founded in 1896 as a breakaway competition ...

(AFL).

Australian Football Career

Drafted by St Kilda FC & Debut 2002

Dal Santo was drafted by St Kilda with the thirteenth selection in the

2001 AFL Draft The 2001 AFL draft consisted of a state draft, a body draft, a pre-season draft and a trade period. The AFL draft is the annual draft of players by Australian rules football teams that participate in the main competition of that sport, the Austr ...

, which was obtained by St Kilda FC as part of a trade deal which sent 1997 Grand Final Player

Barry Hall Barry Andrew Hall (born 8 February 1977) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club, Sydney Swans and Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He is considered to be one of ...

to Sydney. He played his first pre-season cup match in St Kilda's win over Melbourne at what is now

Marvel Stadium Marvel may refer to: Business * Marvel Entertainment, an American entertainment company ** Marvel Comics, the primary imprint of Marvel Entertainment ** Marvel Universe, a fictional shared universe ** Marvel Music, an imprint of Marvel Comics * ...

in the 2002 Wizard Home Loans Cup. Nick Dal Santo made his AFL debut the same season against the

Geelong Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier comp ...

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. Dal Santo played in his first officially credited win with St Kilda FC in the Round 9 win over Richmond at what is now

, 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. 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 Wizard Home Loans Cup & Finals

2004 started excellently, with Dal Santo playing in St Kilda's

2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup The 2004 Wizard Home Loans Cup was the Australian Football League competition played in its entirety before the Australian Football League's 2004 Premiership Season began. The AFL National Cup is also sometimes referred to as the pre-season cu ...

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. 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. 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.

2005 Triumph in Adelaide and Brownlow Medal Success

Former

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

coach Kevin Sheedy, during the 2005 season, likened Dal Santo to triple-

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

list 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

count. Dal Santo was recognised for his excellent season with selection in the 2005

All-Australian Team The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

as a midfield player, his first career All-Australian Team award. 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. Early in the 2006 season St Kilda lost star midfielder

Lenny Hayes Lenny Hayes (born 14 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) from 1999 to 2014. He is currently an assistant coach at the St Kilda Fo ...

to a knee ligament problem and the captain,

Luke Ball Luke Patrick Ball (born 25 May 1984) is a former professional Australian rules football player who played for the and football clubs in the Australian Football League. From 2003 to 2009 he played 142 games for the St Kilda Football Club where ...

, 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. 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. 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 In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

, the

Trevor Barker Award The Trevor Barker Award is an Australian rules football award for the player voted the St Kilda Football Club best and fairest player during the home and away season in the Australian Football League by a voting panel. The St Kilda Best & Faire ...

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

2008 NAB Cup & Finals

Dal Santo played in St Kilda's

2008 NAB Cup The 2008 NAB Cup was the Australian Football League pre-season competition played in its entirety before the Australian Football League's 2008 season began. It culminated with the Grand Final played on 8 March 2008 at AAMI Stadium in which St ...

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. The temporary demotion spurred Dal Santo on to a good finish to the season – picking up 530 possessions (including 335 kicks), 12 goals and 75 tackles. Although his form was down on that of previous seasons, he picked up Brownlow Medal votes in two games and also played a major part in St Kilda's semifinal victory over Collingwood, with 32 possessions, five tackles and one goal.

2009 & 2010 - Consecutive Grand Finals

Dal Santo was a member of St Kilda's leadership group in 2009 and contracted to the club until the end of the 2010 season. Dal Santo played in 21 of the Saints 22 matches in the 2009 AFL Home and Away rounds in which St Kilda dominated the competition, qualifying in first position for the 2009 AFL Finals Series, winning the 2009 Minor Premiership McClelland Trophy. St Kilda dominance over the other league teams for the year was consolidated by a 6 point win in Round 14 over Geelong at

, in front of the largest crowd ever for an AFL game at the venue in history of 54,444. Both teams went into the match undefeated on the AFL standings at an unprecedented 13-0 each, and the Saints took a one game lead on the standings with then win, which then extended to two games the following week. He was rested with several others for the Round 19 away match versus Hawthorn at Launceston's York Park in Tasmania, the only match he missed for the season. Dal Santo was recognised for his excellent season with selection in the 2009 All-Australian Team as an interchange player, his second career All-Australian Team award. St Kilda qualified for the

2009 AFL Grand Final The 2009 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the St Kilda Football Club and the Geelong Football Club at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on 26 September 2009. It was the 113th annual AFL Grand Final, grand final ...

after excellent wins over Collingwood in the Qualifying Final by 28 points, and a phenomenal win in a Preliminary Final classic against the Western Bulldogs, which was indicative of St Kilda's persistence during the season. Dal Santo played in the grand final against season nemesis Geelong, in which St Kilda were initially listed as defeated by 12 points, which became the subject of an ongoing investigation. Dal Santo played 25 games in 2010, including four final matches, and averaged 25.6 possessions.

2011 through to 2013

In the 2011 season Dal Santo came second in the Brownlow Medal with a total of 28 votes, after averaging 26.5 disposals per round during the premiership season. He was included in the All Australian Team for the third time in his career. He also came a close second in St Kilda's best and fairest Trevor Barker award, which recognised his consistency and leadership in the absence of Lenny Hayes. St Kilda FC had a difficult start to the season, in 15th place after 8 rounds, but recovered to win 8 of its last 10 matches in the regular season and qualify for the Finals in 6th. The season ended prematurely in the Elimination Final. In 2012 the Saints appointed a new coach in

Scott Watters Scott Watters (born 25 January 1969) is a former Australian rules football player and coach. As a player, he was drafted from the South Fremantle Football Club in the West Australian Football League (WAFL) to the West Coast Eagles in the Austra ...

, and had a competitive season that finished in an underwhelming 9th position, not getting to play in the Finals Series for the first time since 2007. At the end of the 2013 season Dal Santo qualified to become a

Free Agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

under recently introduced player trade rules allowing Free Agency again for the first time since the 1970's. At the end of the season, Dal Santo was regularly questioned about his playing future, consistently stating he wanted to do what was best for St Kilda Football Club. Dal Santo left St Kilda FC under a restricted Free Agency deal. As of the end of his career at St Kilda FC in 2013, Dal Santo had played in 17 finals matches with the Saints, including consecutive AFL Premiership Grand Finals in 2009 & 2010, and five AFL Preliminary Finals.

North Melbourne

In October 2013, Dal Santo left the Saints for North Melbourne as a restricted free agent after St Kilda declined to match North's three year deal, in a decision he described as "what was best for St Kilda Football Club". Dal Santo had an immediate effect in his first year at North Melbourne, playing every game of the season, including three finals matches. During the semi-final against Geelong, he collected 35 disposals and gained 603 metres. He was named as the 'recruit of the year' by ''AFL Media''. In August 2016, North Melbourne announced they would not renew his contract for the 2017 season. After expressing interest in joining another club, he subsequently retired in November.

Coaching career

After being employed by St Kilda FC as a part-time development coach working with St Kilda's Next Generation Junior Academy, including working with current AFL listed players like Mitchito Owens and Marcus Windhager, Dal Santo was appointed coach of ’s AFLW team before the start of the 2022 season.

Personal life

Dal Santo's younger cousin is Western Bulldogs captain

Marcus Bontempelli Marcus Bontempelli (born 24 November 1995) is a professional Australian rules footballer playing for the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He has served as Western Bulldogs captain since the 2020 season, and was previo ...

Statistics

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2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

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2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 8 , , 7 , , 3 , , 92 , , 60 , , 152 , , 41 , , 36 , , 0.9 , , 0.4 , , 11.5 , , 7.5 , , 19.0 , , 5.1 , , 4.5 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 25 , , 11 , , 6 , , 284 , , 187 , , 471 , , 105 , , 82 , , 0.4 , , 0.2 , , 11.4 , , 7.5 , , 18.8 , , 4.2 , , 3.3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 24 , , 15 , , 14 , , 341 , , 202 , , 543 , , 110 , , 77 , , 0.6 , , 0.6 , , 14.2 , , 8.4 , , 22.6 , , 4.6 , , 3.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 23 , , 11 , , 5 , , 322 , , 187 , , 509 , , 115 , , 96 , , 0.5 , , 0.2 , , 14.0 , , 8.1 , , 22.1 , , 5.0 , , 4.2 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 22 , , 9 , , 9 , , 290 , , 182 , , 472 , , 66 , , 82 , , 0.4 , , 0.4 , , 13.2 , , 8.3 , , 21.5 , , 3.0 , , 3.7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 24 , , 12 , , 7 , , 336 , , 194 , , 530 , , 95 , , 75 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 14.0 , , 8.1 , , 22.1 , , 4.0 , , 3.1 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 24 , , 16 , , 5 , , 387 , , 283 , , 670 , , 89 , , 97 , , 0.7 , , 0.2 , , 16.1 , , 11.8 , , 27.9 , , 3.7 , , 4.0 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 25 , , 16 , , 12 , , 372 , , 269 , , 641 , , 106 , , 115 , , 0.6 , , 0.5 , , 14.9 , , 10.8 , , 25.6 , , 4.2 , , 4.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 23 , , 14 , , 8 , , 338 , , 277 , , 615 , , 77 , , 121 , , 0.6 , , 0.3 , , 14.7 , , 12.0 , , 26.7 , , 3.3 , , 5.3 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 22 , , 17 , , 11 , , 276 , , 237 , , 513 , , 61 , , 101 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 12.5 , , 10.8 , , 23.3 , , 2.8 , , 4.6 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 26 , , 22 , , 5 , , 7 , , 287 , , 259 , , 546 , , 76 , , 71 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 13.0 , , 11.8 , , 24.8 , , 3.5 , , 3.2 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 15 , , 1 , , 5 , , 187 , , 172 , , 359 , , 46 , , 42 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 12.5 , , 11.5 , , 23.9 , , 3.1 , , 2.8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 15 , , 22 , , 6 , , 5 , , 249 , , 296 , , 545 , , 79 , , 72 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 11.3 , , 13.5 , , 24.8 , , 3.6 , , 3.3 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 322 ! 156 ! 116 ! 4198 ! 3177 ! 7375 ! 1194 ! 1174 ! 0.5 ! 0.4 ! 13.0 ! 9.9 ! 22.9 ! 3.7 ! 3.6

Honours and achievements

Team *

McClelland Trophy The McClelland Trophy is an Australian rules football club championship trophy, awarded each year to the club with the best aggregate performance across the Australian Football League (AFL) and AFL Women's (AFLW) seasons. The trophy was inaugur ...

():

* Pre-Season Cup ():

Individual *

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

* Ian Stewart Medal: 2005 * Australian Representative Honours in

International Rules Football International rules football (; also known as international rules in Australia and compromise rules or Aussie rules in Ireland) is a team sport consisting of a hybrid of football codes, which was developed to facilitate international represe ...

References

External links

Official website
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Dal Santo, Nick 1984 births Living people St Kilda Football Club players St Kilda Football Club coaches North Melbourne Football Club players Bendigo Pioneers players Sandhurst Football Club players All-Australians (AFL) Australian people of Italian descent Sportspeople of Italian descent Australian rules footballers from Bendigo Australia international rules football team players AFL Women's coaches 21st-century Australian sportsmen