Some Dal Perspective

[BigMart]

Out of the paper.....

about
Dal Santo has finished in the top five of St Kilda's B&F four years in a row highlighting his consistency despite being just 24 years of age. He is one of the competition's best inside midfielders. In the past three seasons Dal Santo has averaged 22 disposals per game and has maintained a disposal efficiency of 83% which ranks No.1 of all inside midfielders in that time. He is an outstanding reader of the play and last season improved his impact on the scoreboard via assists. He ranked second at the Saints with 31 score assists.

season stats
Kicks 325 Tackles 74
Handballs 190 Goals 12
Disposal 515 Behinds 7
Disposal Efficiency 76% Score Assists 23
Contested Possessions 141 Time on ground 85% (23 Matches)
Uncontested Possessions 367 Super coach 2363 pts (16th)

Why do we need to trade a player of this calibre.....I would have thought that he has earned his keep over his career at Moorabbin

[joffaboy]

Who would want to trade Dal Santo?

[steph]

Out of the paper.....

about
Dal Santo has finished in the top five of St Kilda's B&F four years in a row highlighting his consistency despite being just 24 years of age. He is one of the competition's best inside midfielders. In the past three seasons Dal Santo has averaged 22 disposals per game and has maintained a disposal efficiency of 83% which ranks No.1 of all inside midfielders in that time. He is an outstanding reader of the play and last season improved his impact on the scoreboard via assists. He ranked second at the Saints with 31 score assists.

season stats
Kicks 325 Tackles 74
Handballs 190 Goals 12
Disposal 515 Behinds 7
Disposal Efficiency 76% Score Assists 23
Contested Possessions 141 Time on ground 85% (23 Matches)
Uncontested Possessions 367 Super coach 2363 pts (16th)

Why do we need to trade a player of this calibre.....I would have thought that he has earned his keep over his career at Moorabbin

anyone who wants to trade dal is simply insane, and not even worth arguing with

[WayneJudson42]

Good point...

On those stats, we could now get Kerr, Didak and a 2nd rounder for him.

[bigcarl]

one of the best players we can put out there and showed it when it counted last saturday night.

[WayneJudson42]

one of the best players we can put out there and showed it when it counted last saturday night.

on the park... or on the trade table?

[mightysainters]

his first quater was very average but the rest of his game was A Grade about time he's lifted... he definately is not an inside midfielder though to be honest...

[fonz_#15]

Dal is possibly the most naturally gifted player to come through the club since plugger, the only problem he has is putting in the required effort in order to get his best result.

his on days are class, his off days can be horrendous.

[luke.l_26]

I hope the guys talking about putting him on the trade table are just taking the piss.
Cos really, Dal is one of the biggest contributers to the team. Sure he makes mistakes, has a bad game here and there, but he's human.
This is where the unrealistic expectations of fans just gets ridiculous.
This article only supports my point.

[SuperSaint]

Dal needs to play well tomorrow if we are to win. It's there for the taking for him and to assert his obvious class in the top end of the competition. So, go Nick, you can do it!!

Two more great games from him and the other Nick and they just may make history finally for the club.

[bigcarl]

one of the best players we can put out there and showed it when it counted last saturday night.

on the park... or on the trade table?

on the park.

[Batnoe]

with a name like Dal Santo- The Saint in Spanish

[ScubaSam44]

indeed, you would have to be insane to trade a player like Dal.
whether it be didak & kerr.


theres nothing wrong with dal.
so why worry about that.

[esaint66]

Great points, the only negatives i have ever been able to see with Nick is that he doesn't appear to look like he works hard enough at times and takes his place in the team for granted ... i'm not saying this is what happens, it just appears that way.

Also he loses alot of confidence very quickly which takes him a while to find again and it was hard for him to find in the first place.

IMO though i wouldn't trade Dal .... never ever .... he is an extremely valuable member of our team, one of those players that lifts the rest of the side and we need a lot of them now that Banger is going. When Dal is firing we need the Saints firing.

[WayneJudson42]

with a name like Dal Santo- The Saint in Spanish

Actually, I thinks its "of saint" in either Spanish or Italian.

[n1ck]

Im pretty sure its 'of the Saint' in Italian.

Italian names tend to finish with O's, whereas Spanish with I's.

[plugger66]

Im pretty sure its 'of the Saint' in Italian.

Italian names tend to finish with O's, whereas Spanish with I's.

Dont Italian names finish with a vowel.

[n1ck]

Im pretty sure its 'of the Saint' in Italian.

Italian names tend to finish with O's, whereas Spanish with I's.

Dont Italian names finish with a vowel.

I was under the impression an O was a vowel...

[plugger66]

Im pretty sure its 'of the Saint' in Italian.

Italian names tend to finish with O's, whereas Spanish with I's.

Dont Italian names finish with a vowel.

I was under the impression an O was a vowel...

I am pretty an I is to. As is an A. Montagna. I was just pointing out every Italian word finishes in a vowel or so I was told.

[BAM! (shhhh)]

While being evenhanded about Dal Santo (and I'm a fan - would be very dissapointed if we let him go unless the return was incredible), it's definately been an off year.

Not only have his possessions dropped, so has his efficiency. One of the key points of the quoted article in the OP - by the numbers, Nick Dal Santo is and inside midfielder... he wins a high percentage of his possessions in a contest. The missing link for Dal in years past has been the ability to win more outside ball, get the total possessions up, and win games off his own boot.

One of the things Lyon has tried to do with Dal is address this, and it hasn't worked too well (you could make a case it's done the reverse). Dal Santo has also remained a guy who can be beaten by the best taggers, and reduced by lesser taggers.

It's all a basis whereby when Dal has a year like this one, where his disposal comes back to average, and his number of possessions decreases, he end up being below expectations, let alone the hopes of fans... especially given misperceptions about his contributions in the past.

One of the things I've found encouraging the past couple of weeks is the way he's worked to be at the contests - and then v C'wood, with the Saints making a conscious offort to play through him, even though he wasn't as accurate as he has been at times, 32 possessions at 73% (or whatever it was) is more than 20 hitting targets. For Dal to recover his game and take it to the next level is a combination of him giving his teammates the opportunity to use him, and his teammates taking it.

My take on trading Dal is twofold: #1 trading a player while their value is low is counterintuitive. #2 good players rebound. Even if Dal never lives up to the Ian Stewart comparisons, he's clearly a gifted footballer... I suspect we have yet to see the best of Dal Santo, I'm sure it's better than we've had through '08.

[dalsantocahill26]

havnt you guys noticed that every time we play a big game and dal steps up we win aka against hawthorn 32 possies and against coll last week 32 possies

[stinger]

anyone who wants to trade match winners knows sfa about football or footballers..........they are nuff- nuffs...not worth even replying to....thankfully ross is not a nuff-nuff...so chill out....

[BigMart]

Been an off year whilst running third or fourth in just about every stat category behind some handy names......Tackles hard ball gets included

Ball, Hayes, Reiwoldt, S.Fisher, Riewoldt.....

To say he should have won three or four B&F's is a joke....and a slurr on the guns that have won them.....

Yes he is an 'inside mid'
his ratio of uncontested to contested possessions is better than most in the AFL - except Ball, Judd, Kirk

[saintspremiers]

Who would want to trade Dal Santo?

anyone - (if the Hawks flog us!)

no one - (if we win the flag!)

a mass debate - (if we lose the Granny!)

[OneEyedSainter77]

The facts are he has the most silky skills of anyone in the league. I don't want any other team to have the luxury of having such a player.

Sure he may go missing in the big games more often than not but when he stands up and is accountable - well, I wouldn't trade him for anyone - not even Judd or Ablett.