Zac Dawson Biography

Fremantle coach Ross Lyon says Zac Dawson won't be given a farewell match.

Dawson hasn't played since being axed following the club's round two thrashing at the hands of Port Adelaide.

"He's really comfortable in his own skin," Lyon said of Dawson.

"He said, 'I don't need to validate my career with a farewell game or jump in a car and go around the MCG'.

"He goes, 'It doesn't interest me, that's not how I measure myself'."

Zac Dawson says he is intent on improving his kicking over the pre-season in a bid to help the Dockers become a better rebounding team in 2016.

"I want to get a little bit more kicking into my game," Dawson said.

"I think overall the team is going to focus a little bit more on that.

"So I'm just trying to improve my kicking and trying to improve my overall skill level."

Zac Dawson has suffered another setback after fracturing his thumb in the WAFL on Saturday.

Dawson played his first game for the year for Peel Thunder last Saturday after battling groin issues throughout the summer and the early part of the season.

But he injured his thumb early in Peel's 71-point loss to Claremont and Fremantle coach Ross Lyon told 6PR on Monday night Dawson requires surgery that will sideline him for a few weeks.

"He's broken his thumb," Fremantle coach Ross Lyon said.

"So he'll need a bit of a pin put in."

Zac Dawson signs a two-year contract extension with Fremantle, although he may miss the early part of the home and away season due to a groin injury.

The stingy full-back was contracted until the end of 2015, but the new deal will see him remain at the Dockers through to the end of the 2017 season.

"It's always great to sign a new deal and this is no different, I'm really happy about it," Dawson said.

"Having such a good group and a great environment to live and play footy in is something that's really important to me."

Zac Dawson credits coach Ross Lyon with saving his AFL career after managing just 14 games in five season at Hawthorn.

"Obviously he kind of got me off the scrap heap at St Kilda," Dawson said.

"I could say 'I could've done it without him' but I probably couldn't have, because he's obviously seen something in me and we have a pretty good relationship and that's something you've got to try and hold on to when you get into this caper."

Fremantle secure bookends Zac Dawson and Chris Mayne with contract extensions that will keep them at the Dockers until 2015 and 2016 respectively.

"Both players are very important components of our structure," Frementle general manager of player management Brad Lloyd said.

"Chris had an excellent 2012 playing as a forward, and Zac was part of a solid defensive group that really grew as a unit last year."

Zac Dawson says that, at 27 years of age, he still feels like a young player.

"I only started playing genuine AFL footy probably four years ago when I first got to St Kilda, so it only feels like I've been playing proper AFL for four years," Dawson said.

"To be 27 and feel like that, I feel good."

Freo's Michael Johnson says Zac Dawson may not be popular with their supporters but has won over his teammates.

"I do feel sorry for players out there who cop it from the supporters and the public," Johnson said.

"But Zac's been great, he's taken it on the chin and he's just moved on. You can see on the weekend's performance he's stood up for the team and played his role.

"He's really strong in engaging with an opponent, and if he can get a fist in there, we'll get numbers down at the fall of the ball and stop their crumbers."

Former St Kilda defender Zac Dawson says he is confident of delivering his best football at his third AFL club.

"As a slow maturer, my body is starting to fill out now and I'm quite confident the next two or three years will be my best footy," Dawson said.

"I've felt that in the last three years I've grown a fair amount from where I started. I've played in probably 10 finals and three Grand Finals and I feel like I did quite well over that period."

Zac Dawson walks out on St Kilda to join his old coach, Ross Lyon, at the Dockers but the Saints say finding a replacement at full-back will not be a problem.

"One thing we all know is one of St Kilda's great strengths is its defensive unit," Saints list manager Chris Pelchen said.

"It's as strong as any in competition, and while Zac has moved on he's only one of a group who have played down there."

St Kilda defender Zac Dawson sparks controversy by saying he is happy Robert Walls will be out of a job with Channel 10 on Twitter.

"Channel ten not showing the footy next year!..Finally robert "sourpuss" walls is out of a job.Thank God!..karma is a b*tch buddy," Dawson tweeted.

Adelaide forward Chris Knights says the hit he received from St Kilda's Zac Dawson was not in the spirit of the game.

Dawson was suspended for one match following a punch to Knights' guts that left the Crow forward kneeling on the ground in pain.

"It was just unexpected really. It's not really in the spirit of the game, but you just play on. You can't really get emotionally attached to it too much or seek revenge because then you stop focusing on what you have to do," Knights said.

St Kilda suspends Zac Dawson, Rhys Stanley, Jack Steven and Paul Cahill over an incident involving alcohol and sleeping pills during a pre-season training camp in New Zealand.

Saints CEO Michael Nettlefold says the issues at the Saints are symptomic of those seen in general society.

"We are a mirror of the broader society. We don't have all the answers, all we can do it rethink how we approach these issues," Nettlefold told SEN radio.

"The AFL has some outstanding programs in use for respect and responsibility and drug issues. It's come out of left field for us and we haven't put our head in the sand about it."

A teenage girl releases compomising photos of Nick Riewoldt, Nick Dal Santo and Zac Dawson in various states of undress on the internet.

The girl, who is reported to have fallen pregnant with twins to a Saint Kilda player before miscarrying, is defying court orders to cease uploading the pictures and plans to continue uploading several more from her collection.

"It's because I hate the AFL and I hate St Kilda," she said.

"Words can't describe how I feel. I have 19 more photos ... They will be all up by the end of this week. I just want revenge. I want them to know what it's like to have your reputation destroyed."

St Kilda defender Sam Gilbert has apologised to his skipper and teammates caught up in the club's nude photo scandal.

"I would also like to take this opportunity to offer my public apologies to Nick Riewoldt, Nick Dal Santo, Zac Dawson and their families as well as the St Kilda Football Club for the distress this may have caused," Gilbert said in a statement.

"In this particular case there has been a significant breach of privacy without my knowledge or consent. I have through this process learnt a very real and harsh lesson of the risks involved by taking photos of this nature, irrespective of where the photos are kept."

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon says defender Zac Dawson is the obvious match-up for Barry Hall, despite the Bulldog's seven goals in their last encounter in the NAB Cup grand final.

"I think if you drill it down after the first quarter, Zac did a reasonably good job on Barry. He had one kick for two quarters," Lyon said.

"Zac is a capable full-back and he is the obvious match-up at this stage but we've got to get through training and finalise selection."

Sydney coach Paul Roos is angered by Tadhg Kennelly being knocked unconscious by a late Zac Dawson spoil during the Swans' round 1 clash against St Kilda.

"I was expecting a 50m penalty. In the box we were all expecting a 50m penalty. Unless I've got the rules wrong, which obviously I have," Roos said.

Kennelly said he was still feeling the effects of the clash the day after.

"I'm sore all over ... I've got a big lump on my head," Kennelly said.

"I saw him coming ... so I tried to raise my leg and turn my body into him."

St Kilda has delisted injury-plagued defender Matt Maguire and elevated Zac Dawson and Luke Miles from the rookie list.

Saints coach Ross Lyon reveals Zac Dawson was ill on grand final eve and had to be placed on a drip to treat severe fever and gastro that almost resulted in the defender missing out on playing in the game against the Cats.

Zac Dawson wins a re-match against his nemesis Anthony Rocca with the Saints condemning the Magpies to a sudden death semi-final after winning their qualifying final.

"Daws has really come on this year, and again we didn't ask for anything too special from him,'' teammate Lenny Hayes said.

''Just to stand his ground and he's done that all year, so it was no different today.''

Former St Kilda coach Stan Alves says the club should select Max Hudghton ahead of Zac Dawson for the finals if it comes down to a choice between the two.

"It is so important to have someone who has been there and done that. He is the ultimate competitor," Alves said.

"I believe he is a player who performs on the big stage and that is critical.

"It would be very, very unwise not to have him in the 22. He's got to be there."

Mark Stevens from the Herald Sun reports that St Kilda key defender Zac Dawson is due to cash out on his excellent form in 2009, going from a base rookie wage of $33,000 this year to possibly earning up to $250,000 next year.

St Kilda coach Ross Lyon laters dismisses the report as an effort to destabilise his side.

"People are going to release information that's not accurate and everyone wants to destabilise certain things," Lyon told radio station SEN.

"We'll clarify all that within the group but for Zac it's a great story.

"We got him for a reason, we thought he had ability, he'd done an apprenticeship and needed a second chance and he certainly grabbed hold of it. He's just grown and grown and grown."

St Kilda full-back Zac Dawson is expected to return from suspension to face his old side in Hawthorn.

"I'm tipping he would want to play against the Hawks," Saints coach Ross Lyon said.

"He'll give us some inside knowledge, no doubt. He has been a great acquisition to our club."

Nick Riewoldt says Matt Maguire is in contention to play his long-awaited 100th match against the Western Bulldogs on Saturday night after suspensions to Justin Koschitzke and Zac Dawson.

"We'll have training and look at the way we want to structure the team and how the Bulldogs are going to structure up and make a decision from there, but he's a definite a chance for this week," Riewoldt said.

St Kilda forward Justin Koschitzke has accepted a one-match ban, but defender Zac Dawson will contest his rough conduct charge.

St Kilda defender Zac Dawson has been suspended for two weeks after the AFL tribunal found him guilty of a rough conduct charge against Adelaide's Brad Symes.

Dawson chose not to accept a one-match ban for an early plea.

"We are obviously disappointed with the result but we have to live by it and move on," St Kilda football manager Greg Hutchison said.

"Zac is taking it on the chin, like he would. We just need to move on and go forward and hopefully get through the next couple of weeks without him."

Key Saints Justin Koschitzke and Zac Dawson are charged by the match review panel after physical clash with Crows.

Koschitzke was charged with striking Adelaide's Richard Douglas in Sunday's game, while Dawson was charged for a rough conduct offence against Crow Brad Symes.

A bigger, stronger and more confident Zac Dawson gets his chance to redress one of the AFL's worst mismatches on Monday night when he meets Anthony Rocca again.

Three years after his first very public humiliation at the hands of Anthony Rocca, Zac Dawson may be on the verge of the ultimate redemption with the two expected to face each other again.

St Kilda defender Zac Dawson has admitted he did not want to continue his AFL career after Hawthorn delisted him last year.

Dawson said he was ready to turn his back on football after managing just 14 games in four years as a Hawk.

"I didn't know whether I'd be up for it mentally," he said.

"Last year I was on the fringe for the whole season and I didn't want to go through another year without the opportunity to play."

Zac Dawson will make a surprise Round 1 debut for St Kilda at the scene of his worst nightmare.

The Saints have told Dawson he will be promoted from the rookie list in time to confront Sydney at Docklands on Saturday week.

Zac Dawson is picked up by St Kilda in the 2008 rookie draft.