Dylan Roberton Biography

Dylan Roberton calls time on his 129-game AFL career after being away from the club since January to weigh up his future due to health issues.

"I've come to a point where I need to put my family and future first," Roberton said.

"Football has been a huge part of my life for such a long time and I've never lost my passion for the game. But after lengthy discussions with my family and on the advice of my doctors, I've made the extremely hard decision to hang up the boots."

Dylan Roberton decides to step away from footy to consider retirement after three years managing a heart condition.

Roberton has played just one senior game in almost three years since he suffered his first heart scare in round four, 2018 against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.

"In consultation with his specialists and club medical team, and with full support of the club, Roberton will assess all available options over the coming weeks," the Saints said in their statement.

Jarryn Geary will lead St Kilda for a fourth season in 2020 with recruit Bradley Hill a fresh face in the Saints' leadership group.

The six-man leadership group will again include Seb Ross as vice-captain as well as Tim Membrey, Jack Billings and Dylan Roberton.

Dylan Roberton will use the next three weeks of match practice to make a brave bid for a round one call up, having mentally moved on from the heart scare that threatened more than just his career.

The 28-year-old father of three hasn't played competitive football since his internal defibrillator went off in a pre-season game last year, and last ran out for premiership points in round four, 2018.

"I wouldn't want to come back if I was just making up the numbers," Roberton said.

"It's all I've been thinking about for a while so to get back and be this close to the start of the season is really exciting and makes the last couple of years feel like they haven't happened."

Dylan Roberton expects to be available for St Kilda's opening match next year after he missed almost two full seasons due to a heart condition.

The 28-year-old has not played since round four of the 2018 season when he collapsed during the game against Geelong.

"I headed overseas and just got some opinions from overseas and everyone's really confident that if I'm diligent with my medication and ... regular check-ups with the cardiologist that everything's going to be fine," he said on Triple M radio.

Dylan Roberton could look overseas for a solution to the heart condition that has stalled his AFL career.

Roberton will not play this season after a pre-season recurrence of the heart problem that first emerged last year during a match.

"There is still a lot of work to do in terms of finding a diagnosis," Roberton told Channel Seven.

"I'm hopefully looking to get a couple of opinions and maybe head overseas and see what the go is over there just to get a bit more of an understanding."

Roberton has had a surgical implant in the wake of the first incident.

"There's nothing wrong with the muscle ... it's just the electrical side of it," he said.

"They are not sure why it's happening, so hopefully we can find out before the end of the year."

Dylan Roberton tells teammates he is his stepping aside from football in 2019.

Following a second heart scare in the Saints' JLT Community Series match in Ballarat, that required him to spend a night in hospital, Roberton will take the cautious approach to his future.

"It's extremely frustrating because I physically feel fine, and if you exclude those two incidents, I’m as healthy as I’ve ever been," Roberton said.

"Unfortunately, I need to listen to the professionals and take some more time out of the game.

"I still have a great desire to play at the highest level and want to make sure we look at every possibility.

"Given the club’s ability to add a player to the list, I wanted to make the call while they still had time to do so."

St Kilda's club doctor was forced to address the Saints playing group on Sunday night to allay fears around a health scare to Dylan Roberton.

Roberton alerted doctor Tim Barbour that he was feeling "wonky" after the Saints' 14-point JLT Series win over the Western Bulldogs in Ballarat, prompting instant assessment.

"He just felt a little bit off, right at the end actually when the siren went," St Kilda coach Alan Richardson explained.

"The doctor came out and spoke to the group and (said) no, Robbo's fine. The doctor's almost said themselves we're probably overplaying this and being a little bit over the top in terms of being cautious."

An implant in Dylan Roberton's chest will act as a precautionary device in case he suffers another heart issue, but the backman says he's not concerned about a repeat of his scary incident.

Roberton collapsed on the field against Geelong in round four of 2018, and he still doesn't quite know why that happened.

"I would've thought I'd have thought about it more but I was speaking to Richo (coach Alan Richardson) the other day and he asked me if it crosses my mind. To be honest, I haven't really thought about it since it happened, which is a good thing," Roberton said.

"There's no worry from my end. I'm sure my family are a bit more worried than I am. As far as my mental state, I'm ready to go."

Dylan Roberton takes another step in his recovery from a serious heart issue, joining his Saints teammates in contact work for the first time since he collapsed on the field against Geelong in round four.

Dylan Roberton is almost certain to miss the rest of the season due to an irregular heartbeat.

"There's rhythm problems going on in my heart – the electrical side of things – (and we're) still not sure as to why it happened, so I'll be out for the meantime," Roberton said.

"I've had a little device implanted in my chest, sort of like the size of a battery, which just feeds in what my heart's doing to the doctors and all their computers.

"They'll be able to pick up what's happening and then, with the testing, they'll be able to put all that information together and make a decision from there."

Dylan Roberton remains in hospital with tests ongoing for an irregular heartbeat which saw him collapse during St Kilda's loss to Geelong.

"Last conversation we had last night he was feeling OK, feeling alert, eating a meal," Saints football boss Simon Lethlean told RSN radio.

"He's having a number of tests and we'll get an update this morning but we're taking it quite seriously, as you can imagine."

Mystery surrounds Dylan Roberton's sudden collapse in the second quarter of St Kilda's clash against Geelong at GMHBA Stadium.

Roberton slumped to the turf with no player within 15m of him seven minutes into the second quarter.

Concerned Saints players ran to their prone teammate who regained his feet after being assisted by two trainers.

Roberton was able to walk unaided to the interchange bench where he was checked and then taken down an entrance near the southern end of the stadium to access the Saints' rooms from underneath the grandstand.

Jarryn Geary will skipper St Kilda for a second season, but the veteran defender feels 2018 will be the true changing of the guard after the Nick Riewoldt era.

The 29-year-old will head a leadership group that has shrunk from eight last year to five in 2018 and includes Seb Ross, Jack Steven, Dylan Roberton and Jack Newnes.

"There's no doubt Nick was a leader of the club for a long time, and probably stood out in games when he was still probably the main man," Geary said.

"I guess (his retirement) will probably help me.

"I tried not to compete with him, he still led in his own way so it was a conscious effort not to compete with him.

"I won't have to do that this year.

"I think the five us will be the voice of the club. Nick obviously did that for a long time, but it's our turn to take over."

Dylan Roberton needed stitches in his testicles after a freak indoor cricket incident which saw him hit by a tennis ball.

Roberton was batting in a game inside the Saints' gym when a seemingly harmless Shane Savage delivery struck the former Docker in the area no man wants to be hit.

He was immediately in pain and after having between four and six stitches, will be on restricted duties for a short period, expected to be not much longer than a week.

Roberton is feeling fine, considering the situation, but will stay in hospital until Wednesday.

"To cop such a blow in a harmless game of cricket is very unlucky, but thankfully, he's okay and will be back on his feet in the next few days," Saints football manager Jamie Cox said.

"Dylan has returned to pre-season training in fantastic shape, so a short break won't hold him back for too long."

Seb Ross claims his first Trevor Barker award as St Kilda's best and fairest after a career-best season in 2017.

Ross finished with 159 votes ahead of gun backman Dylan Roberton (124) and captain Jarryn Geary (121).

Ross paid tribute to retirees Nick Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna, Sean Dempster and Sam Fisher, who finished up after the end of the 2016 season, for teaching him valuable lessons.

"The legacy you left on me, you taught me how to work as a young kid," Ross said.

"It probably took me three or four years to figure it out and those three or four years watching you guys each day in your own life, you just put your head down and your bums up and you worked hard, you're as loyal as they come, you're some of the greatest blokes I've ever met and I just wish you guys well in the future."

Dylan Roberton inks a four-year deal with St Kilda to remain at the club until the end of 2021.

"I've loved my time at St Kilda and am really excited about what the future holds," he said.

"As a group, we've been developing for a few years and I've enjoyed watching a number of young guys step up this year and take their footy a new level.

"We want to be a regular finals team and I'm determined to do what I can to help us take the next step."

Jarryn Geary will be the St Kilda's new captain for 2017.

Geary takes over the role from Nick Riewoldt, who was skipper for 220 games. That tally ranks Riewoldt third on the all-time list for most VFL/AFL games captained, behind Carlton's Stephen Kernahan (226) and Essendon's Dick Reynolds (224).

Riewoldt, Leigh Montagna, Sean Dempster and Sam Gilbert took themselves out of contention for the leadership group, and thus the captaincy. Those players, known as the 'four elders', make up the Saints' over-30 contingent.

"Before that vote, Montagna, Riewoldt, Gilbert and Dempster got up and said 'Don't vote for us, we're out. Time for you blokes to drive it. We think you're ready'," Saints coach Alan Richardson said.

Midfielder Seb Ross, Dylan Roberton and Josh Bruce are St Kilda's newest official leaders. They join Geary, Jack Steven, David Armitage, Jack Newnes and Maverick Weller.

"If we had six players who got lots of votes and then there was a gap, we'd have six (in the leadership group). As it turned out, we had eight, because those guys were voted in really strongly," Richardson said.

Dylan Roberton signs a new deal with St Kilda that will keep him at the club until the end of 2017.

St Kilda says the rash of hamstring injuries that has struck the club recently is more down to bad luck than poor management.

Seb Ross, Jack Billings, Farren Ray, Shane Savage and Dylan Roberton have all been hamstring victims during the Saints' pre-season.

"We have had a few pop up, but they've all been very different," St Kilda football manager Jamie Cox told radio station SEN.

"Nothing jumps out but the causes for these things can be many and varied.

"Regardless of injuries, we always analyse our program and I have total faith in our strength, conditioning and medical staff."

St Kilda coach Alan Richardson says a rejuvenated Dylan Roberton will be a bonus to the Saints side in 2015.

"Robbo is like a new player in many ways. His running has improved significantly," Richardson said.

"He had a pretty frustrating year last year. He had an ankle that was giving him a fair bit of grief and he lost a fair degree of movement.

"He's probably one of the most impressive trainers we've had, and he actually hasn't really joined in with our group yet.

"He's in really good shape and it's quite exciting to think he's almost a new player for us."

Dylan Roberton is withdrawn from the Saints side that will take on Geelong after failing to overcome the effects of concussion.

The AFL says St Kilda handled Dylan Roberton's bout with concussion appropriately.

Roberton copped a knock to the head in the second quarter of the Saints' five-point loss to Port Adelaide at Etihad Stadium and was cleared to come back on.

He then appeared dazed in a pre-arranged half-time interview with the Seven Network's Cameron Ling, during which he said he wasn't sure where he was.

He was subbed out at half-time.

"Our medical staff went out to Dylan and he seemed fine at the time but with concussion there can be a delay of the symptoms," St Kilda skipper Nick Riewoldt said on Channel Seven's Game Day.

"He was assessed at half-time and it was clear that he was in no fit state to continue.

"The doctors had his best interests at heart the whole time. If there were any grey areas at all they would have brought him off."

St Kilda secures key youngsters Seb Ross, Jimmy Webster and Jack Newnes with new deals while Dylan Roberton has also signed a two-year contract extension with the club.

Saint recruit Dylan Roberton says he must keep working hard to keep his spot in the team.

"I wouldn't say I'm a guaranteed start and I'm not comfortable with my position," Roberton said.

"I'm definitely not relaxed and knowing that I'm going to get picked every week, so I'm just trying to do the things that will keep me in the team."

Nick Riewoldt says recruit Dylan Roberton will slot nicely into the Saints' defence.

"He's got a spot down back that he's made his own in the pre-season and hopefully he can continue that in the early part of the year. I think he is a good chance to play round one," Riewoldt said about Roberton.

"He's deceptively tall (194cm). I think he could play, probably not on the really big boys, but definitely on a second or third tall."

St Kilda confirms it will sign ex-Fremantle defender Dylan Roberton in the next free agency window.

Former Fremantle player Dylan Roberton has joined pre-season training at St Kilda.

Delisted pair Nick Lower and Jesse Crichton will continue to train with Freo in a bid to join the club's rookie list.

Utility Dylan Roberton has also been cut after turning down a new contract to return to Victoria for family reasons.

Fremantle's Dylan Roberton and Jack Anthony will be sweating on their futures ahead of Thursday's list lodgment deadline when Fremantle will have to delist a further three players.

Dylan Roberton makes his AFL debut for Fremantle with 14 disposals (13 kicks and a handball), a mark and 3 tackles in a 38-point win over West Coast.