Dal Santo lost sleep over North move

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After 260 games with the Saints, Dal Santo - a restricted free agent - made the decision to move to Arden St via 'mutual agreement' with the side he played in three grand finals for in 2009-10.

Dal Santo said he had many sleepless nights mulling over the decision to leave St Kilda after 12 years, and said chatting to fellow departures Goddard (Essendon) and Ball (Collingwood) did not make the call any easier.

"I've kept in touch with BJ (Goddard)... I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago," Dal Santo said.

"I touched base with him, I also spoke to Luke Ball - just about the process.

"I'd never thought about leaving St Kilda, so to even contemplate what it looked like in life after St Kilda, it was good to touch base with those guys.

"But by saying that, it didn't make it any easier.

"It didn't make me feel more comfortable, it didn't make the decision making process any easier.

"It was more up to myself and my wife to work through together, and I think we've come out with a really good result."

While it was not the deal-maker in getting Dal Santo to switch his red, white and black stripes for blue and white, he said meeting with some of the 'Roos leaders was helpful in getting him to sign a three-year deal.

"They showed a lot of interest, I thought (it was impressive) the way they handled themselves throughout the whole process," Dal Santo said, when asked why he chose North Melbourne.

"I obviously met with the coaching staff and a few of the staff members probably five weeks ago, and then met with a few of the boys from the leadership group.

"The way they presented was really encouraging. I was a little bit flattered to be honest by the way they showed their interest in me.

"It was nice to hear how keen they were on the way I played my football."

Dal Santo admitted he took St Kilda's successful period in the mid-late 00s for granted, as they missed out on finals in his final two seasons at the club.

He added North's scope for success in the near future was another reason why he came to play under coach Brad Scott.

"It was a tough year - I'm obviously only one player," he said of St Kilda's five-win season in 2013.

"We'd had it very good for 10 years, and I think you come to take that as granted that you're going to play finals, you're going to win 14 games each year.

"And when you don't do it, it's a bit of a rude wake-up call and you realise 'this won't last forever'.

"When you start to lose, you realise how good those times were."

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