Back at the 2004 Under 18 Championships, Vic Country squared up against South Australia in an early group match. The South Australian side contained a young, damaging midfielder named Ryan Griffen. The Vic Country coaching team handed to the job of shutting down Griffen to an ungainly, scrawny looking kid from Gippsland. After completely nullifying Griffen whilst helping himself to plenty of the ball, Dean Polo thrust himself into the calculations of recruiters for the 2004 AFL draft.
After achieving top 10 results in the agility run, beep test and 3km time trial at the AFL draft camp, the recruiters at Richmond saw enough potential in Polo to take him at pick 20 in the 2004 AFL draft (Griffen was selected by the Bulldogs at pick 3). After a year of developing at Richmond aligned VFL side Coburg during 2005, Polo starred for the VFL side in early 2006 and was finally selected for his debut in the Dreamtime game against Essendon in Round 6.
Five minutes after the final siren went, Dean Polo was standing on the stage next to Craig Willis after being awarded the Yiooken award for best on ground. After kicking 3 goals, having 28 disposals and being the main reason why the Tigers defeated their arch-rivals on the big stage, Richmond fans started getting excited about the future of this talented midfield star.
A little over four years later, Dean Polo was delisted from Richmond and most people expected to never hear from him again. His career at Richmond never got going. Despite playing every game for the rest of the 2006 season, Polo fell out of favour and only played another 39 games for the Tigers in four seasons.
After the gloss of his debut game wore off, queries were raised about Polo’s disposal efficiency and decision making. He was also never a prolific ball winner averaging only 16 disposals a game during his time at Richmond. The final nail in the coffin of his Richmond career was when Polo was stood down for a week after being involved in the infamous Ben Cousins-Daniel Connors punch-up at a Sydney hotel in early 2010.
Polo only appeared three more times for the Tigers after the Sydney hotel incident and was dropped despite a solid 19 possession game against Collingwood in Round 17 in his last game for the club. Two months later he was culled from the Tigers list and most expected that it would be the last they saw of Polo at AFL level.
Some people had other ideas however. In a draft day shock, Polo was the last player selected in the 2010 draft at pick 103 by St.Kilda. It has since emerged, that Ross Lyon was an admirer of Polo’s abilities. Whilst Polo’s weaknesses are often publicised, his strengths is what drew Lyon to giving him a second chance.
Polo, standing at 187cm, has always been a great contested mark for his size. His ability to win the ball in contested situations was also an important factor in the recruiting departments decision. Lyon obviously felt that Polo, who isn’t quite 25 years of age, had stunted in his development in the Richmond system and that it was possible for him to reach it in the St.Kilda set-up and be an important squad player. Ross, as usual, was right.
When selected by the Saints, the decision to take Polo was not only ridiculed by Tigers supporters but also by a majority of Saints fans. Polo didn't appear throughout the NAB Cup and the start of the AFL season because of a thumb injury and it wasn't until the knee injury of Hayes that Polo was mentioned in St.Kilda supporter circles as someone who could play a role this season.
When recovered from his thumb injury, Polo made his debut for Sandringham in Round 5. After two solid but not overly impressive performances for the Zebras, Polo was a shock selection for the round 8 game against the Hawks. He announced himself with a goal in the first quarter. Despite the Saints losing by 5 goals, Polo had a solid debut.
Over the next couple of weeks, Polo played okay but not to the point where he could keep selection in the side. After a three round hiatus, Polo was reintroduced to the side for the game against the Kangaroos and hasn't looked back since.
Polo has become a very important player in the squad in my opinion. The injury to Hayes has meant there has been a spot available in the midfield rotation. Polo's performances over the past few weeks have gone a long way to claiming that spot.
The ability of Polo to come off the bench and give the more prolific ball winners a break whilst locking down an opponent is understated. His work in pack situations has also been exceptional.
Averaging a career high 3 tackles a game, Polo has slotted in seamlessly to "Saints Footy" with his defensive pressure and repeated efforts. His handballing out of a pack in a contested situation is elite. An example of these traits can be seen late in the first quarter of the game against West Coast when Polo lost control of the footy at the top of the Saints attacking 50m arc. Instead of letting the Eagles rebound through the corridor, Polo applied pressure separately to two Eagles opponents, stripped them of the ball and fired out a handball to Raph Clarke, who hit Nick Riewoldt on the chest inside 50.
Polo’s worth to the team was also highlighted during the 103 point romp against Adelaide. His elite contested handballing was a factor in at least four St.Kilda goals including a direct goal assist to Stephen Milne early in the first quarter. In a huge pack of players 15m out from the St.Kilda goal, Polo won a contested possession and fired out a handball to Milne in the same movement who snapped truly. He also laid a career high 7 tackles showing that he is slotting in seamlessly to “Saints Footy”.These are the kind of unheralded efforts that are starting to earn Dean Polo respect at St.Kilda
It remains to be seen how much the relatively young Polo can develop in the St.Kilda system. Can he make the step up from important squad player to gun midfielder? The majority of doubters to his selection in the draft have been silenced and it's looking like another Lyon decision may prove to be a masterstroke.
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