Nick Dal Santo: “I had the time of my life”
The footballing resume of Nick Dal Santo is very, very good.
322 games (260 with the Saints), 3x All-Australian selections, international honours, a Brownlow Medal podium and three grand final appearances.
Not bad for a kid from Bendigo.
A member of of the now famous 2001 “Superdraft” where St Kilda had six selections – including three in the first round – draft night resulted in the drafting of Luke Ball (2), Xavier Clarke (5), Nick Dal Santo (13), Matt Maguire (21), Leigh Montagna (37), and Josh Houlihan (49). With such a large number of young players entering the club at the same time, it was only natural for these boys to create a strong bond with each other.
Dal Santo says on Unpluggered Podcast:
“In regards to that young group, we spent every minute of every day together.”
But, in terms of integration with the existing team and the senior players, Dal Santo believes a lot of the credit needs to be directed towards coach, Grant Thomas.
“The one thing he took away was the pecking order. There was no hierarchy.”
All of the senior players were accepting of the new guard and appreciated the need for young talent, helping Dal Santo feel welcomed as a part of the group from the moment he walked in the door.
Due to injuries within the squad, Dal Santo was given his opportunity at AFL level relatively early, making his debut in the Round 4, 2002.
IT’S PRETTY COOL
For Dal Santo, it was a dream come true, for Saints fans, it was a horrendous 122-point loss to the Cats in Geelong.
In what was ultimately a horrific game for the club, there proved a memorable moment for Dal Santo himself, who was seen smiling on the bench with the team down by a hundred points.
“I had the time of my life…” he recalled.
“I remember people said “Why were you smiling?” and I said “Well I’m getting to play footy, it’s pretty cool.””
With their young side building nicely, 11 wins in 2003 led to increased expectation and the 2004 and 2005 seasons were missed opportunities that, still today, haunt the Saints.
Penultimate weekend losses ended both seasons, leaving the group to mull over what might have been.
Nick Dal Santo is one of the most skilful to ever pull on the red, white & black of the St Kilda Football Club.
#13 AFL Draft (2001)
322 games (260 @stkildafc)
3x #AFLGF
3x #AFLAllAustralian
3rd in #BrownlowMedal (2005)#TogetherWeRise #Unpluggeredhttps://t.co/BQ4Zl39BKs— Unpluggered Podcast 🔴⚪⚫ (@unpluggered) February 22, 2021
The 2004’s Preliminary Final loss is one of the more famous games in the St Kilda Football Club’s long history of heartbreak, with a dominant start to the game cut short after Fraser Gehrig kicked his 100th goal of the season. Following a break in the game while the crowd ran onto the field, momentum swung the way of Port Adelaide, who were able to outlast the young Saints on their way to the Grand Final, leaving a 20-year-old Nick Dal Santo and co to rue a lost chance at glory.
While that 2004 loss haunts Saints fans, in Dal Santo’s mind, in fact it was the following year that led to an even bigger opportunity.
Coughing up a late lead to the Sydney Swans at the MCG in the 2005 Preliminary Final left a lot for the group to reflect on, as another shot at an elusive AFL Premiership was missed. Even more so with long-serving champions departing the club over the next few years, and Grant Thomas moved on in favour of Sydney’s assistant coach, Ross Lyon, after another Finals failure in 2006.
On reflection, when referencing the incredible 2009 and 2010 seasons, Dal Santo believes that experiencing a Grand Final in ’04 or ’05 could have potentially changed the Grand Final experiences still to come.
“Talking about ’09-’10… if we could have at least experienced a Grand Final in ‘04/’05 would we be better for it? Well there’s no guarantee, but I think it would’ve been something for us to say that we have experienced Grand Final week, we know what Grand Final day was like. Coming so close two years in a row, it might have made a difference… but, it might not have as well.”
EVERYTHING JUST CLICKED
One of the most dominant regular seasons of AFL football – by any team in history – was the 20-2 Saints in 2009. With no real weakness to this team, each element catered perfectly to the Ross Lyon revolutionary game plan, with the sum of all pieces greater than each individual.
“We had everything we needed balance-wise,” Dal Santo says.
“You got all the pieces to the puzzle…”
“You got the inside ball winners, you got the outside users, you got a (great) forward line and defence, and it all just works systematically.”
Leading by 7-points at the final change of the 2009 AFL Grand Final, the Saints were left to once again rue missed opportunities as Geelong kicked three goals to none in the final quarter to break the hearts of Saints fans around the world.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the 2010 AFL Grand Final was one of the most unique – and again, heart-breaking – Grand Finals in recent memory.
Overcoming a 24-point Collingwood lead in the second half, the Saints came up just short of victory in the AFL’s 3rd ever drawn Grand Final. In the replay the following week, the younger, fitter Magpies simply outran and outplayed the fatigued Saints to be crowned AFL Premiers.
As the siren went to confirm a Grand Final tie, Nick Dal Santo was in congestion around the ball, with footage of a depleted Dal Santo being helped up by an umpire in the resulting confusion.
That was a moment Dal Santo still remembers vividly to this day. However, he struggles to remember other significant moments of the game, such as Brendon Goddard’s incredible final-quarter mark, and the infamous “Milne Bounce”.
“I was so focused that I can’t remember the bounce, I don’t remember the Milne bounce being as significant as it was.” he recalls on Unpluggered Podcast.
“With the Goddard mark, I remember it happening, I don’t remember it being a spectacular grab. And I remember jogging back to the centre circle after he kicked it and organising our centre square structure. That’s how quickly it was out of your mind.”
The 2009-10 era of ‘Saints Footy’ was a highlight for many Saints fans, but was almost more so for the players and staff within the inner sanctum of the club.
The bond between the team is something that Dal Santo looks back on fondly. With a lot of love and mutual respect for one another, he says that taking time to see each other is still a priority even to this day.
“We catch up with each other like we have won a Premiership, because… it’s more about the people. We don’t have to necessarily celebrate; we just appreciate each other and enjoy each other’s company.”
The aftermath of the ’09 and ’10 missed opportunities was one of rebuild, with star players – and coaches – moving on, including Dal Santo, himself.
At the end of the 2013 season, the decision was made by the Saints’ football department to trade out some of their older assets with value, and Dal Santo was moved on.
His last game for the St Kilda Football Club was the “celebration game” where Ross Lyon – now Fremantle’s coach – fielded what amounted to an “under 18 side” for the retirements of St Kilda’s Jason Blake, Stephen Milne and Justin Koschitzke.
“As I walked off the ground, I just had a feeling that it might be my last game as well.”
Now at North Melbourne, Dal Santo noticed some differences, but it was his priorities as a person that had changed even more dramatically, in comparison to the 17-year-old kid from Bendigo, drafted by the Saints in 2001.
While the guys at the club still spent a lot of time together, Dal Santo found himself with other responsibilities away from the field that he hadn’t faced before, with the birth of his first child mid-way through his first season away .
After three years with the Kangaroos, Dal Santo announced his retirement, bringing an end to a career that spanned 322 games, with accolades most other players would dream of.
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