Luke Dunstan Biography

Luke Dunstan opens up about the devastation of ending his rollercoaster career through injury, revealing he "spent 45 minutes in the rooms crying" after rupturing his ACL.

Dunstan sustained the dreaded knee injury playing for Casey in a VFL clash against North Melbourne in late August.

"It obviously shocks your system a bit. On top of that, I was looking forward to next year and wherever I was going to play footy, whether that be locally, or in the country, to just enjoy it and have some fun. I did my knee and spent 45 minutes in the rooms crying," he said.

Luke Dunstan is acquired by Melbourne as an unrestricted free agent.

"Luke is a proven performer at the highest level and finished this season in exceptional fashion polling 11 votes in the Brownlow Medal. We think Luke's best football is ahead of him and just as importantly, Luke is a terrific cultural fit for our club," Melbourne list manager Tim Lamb said.

Gold Coast will explore the prospect of recruiting Luke Dunstan after he and St Kilda mutually agreed it was time for a fresh start.

Luke Dunstan's 2020 season is in doubt after he tore his pectoral muscle in a scratch match against Richmond's reserves. The 25-year-old will head for surgery after scans confirmed significant damage and is expected to miss the next 10-12 weeks.

Luke Dunstan says working with Emma Murray, the same psychologist who helped Tiger Dustin Martin, has been beneficial to him as a player.

"I went through a challenging period halfway through last season and to find out a few things about myself as a person and a footballer," Dunstan said.

"It was probably the first time in my career that I haven't been picked in a side. Having to deal with that was a new challenge and something that I didn't deal with the right way.

"Emma had a pretty big influence on that. Going back and playing VFL, I was able to go back and play on instincts again and just rediscover how to play how I grew up playing and what initially got me drafted."

Luke Dunstan signs a two-year contract extension with St Kilda to remain at the club until the end of 2019.

"Luke has made a really impressive start to his AFL career. He has quickly established himself as an important member of midfield with his grunt work inside and his durability seeing him play over 50 games already," St Kilda's chief operation officer Ameet Bains said.

"We hope he remains an integral part of our midfield around the contest and that he continues to grow offensively too."

Luke Dunstan has received an infringement notice for being intoxicated in a public place early on a Saturday morning.

Dunstan was found asleep and was detained by the police before being fined and released.

"Luke’s a trusted young man of strong character and we’re disappointed he has not met club expectations on this occasion," Saints football general manager Jamie Cox said.

"This serves as a prescient reminder to our playing group of the importance of responsible consumption of alcohol."

Luke Dunstan will have surgery on his dislocated left shoulder but the Saints expect him to be fit for the start of pre-season.

Luke Dunstan is expected to require surgery for a shoulder injury suffered against Carlton.

Dunstan, who also underwent shoulder surgery at the end of 2014, came from the field in pain and with his left shoulder dislodged, re-emerging later with his arm in a sling.

"It's likely he'll have to have surgery. That's yet to be confirmed, (but) the early diagnosis is that's what it looks like," St Kilda coach Alan Richardson said.

"It's certainly typical of Luke that he does an injury tackling, because he leads the way for us with his pressure and physicality."

Luke Dunstan admits he failed to reach the heights he expected to in 2015, his second AFL season.

While he played 19 games, he found himself constantly having to deal with pain associated with the shoulder reconstruction that ended his 2014 early.

"It was on-going pain. Some days it was better than others, but early on in the season I lost a bit of confidence in my ability to tackle and my contest, which is the main strength of my game," Dunstan said.

"With that dropping off a little bit, my confidence went downhill.

"It wasn't where I needed to be at. Obviously I didn't play the football I wanted to play.

"I still tried my guts out and did the best I could, but the running and the physical side of the game – my two strengths – dropped off and exposed my football."

Luke Dunstan is cleared to resume full training with the Saints after recovering from shoulder surgery following round 19 last year.

Luke Dunstan says the discovery of a wheat intolerance set him on a path towards becoming a leaner and more dangerous midfielder this pre-season.

The 19-year-old was over halfway into his first AFL season when it became apparent he had bulked up too much for his height of 184cm.

He was also feeling sluggish and finding it hard to run around after eating what he thought was a normal breakfast, including toast.

So the Saints' dietician suggested he forego foods containing wheat for 10 days – and the results were almost immediate.

"I dropped two or three kilos in about three weeks and I was back down to what they wanted me to be at for my playing weight," Dunstan said.

"I feel absolutely better. I was having toast for breakfast every morning and it was all sitting in my stomach and I couldn't run around as well, and I was feeling heavy too.

"I definitely feel better now I've sorted it out."

Dunstan was presented with Lenny Hayes' No.7 guernsey in the St Kilda veteran's final career game against the Crows.

"It was a pretty special moment," Dunstan recalled.

"I was very lucky and for him to pass the number on now, I feel like I've got a pretty big role to play and he's left me and trusted me to do that, so I want to repay him.

"It's a massive honour and hopefully I can fill the big shoes he's left for me."

Luke Dunstan has been rewarded for an outstanding debut season, signing a two-year contract extension with St Kilda.

"We can feel that something is building," Dunstan said.

"Not only the players but also the coaches and staff get the same feeling. There is a lot of work ahead over the next few years but it's definitely building."

Luke Dunstan is out for the season after undergoing arthroscopic stabilisation of his right shoulder.

"Luke had routine surgery this week following some relative limitations with his shoulder in recent matches," head of football Chris Pelchen said.

"He has had an outstanding debut season with the Saints and we look forward to him starting pre-season training with the other players in November."

Suspensions to Leigh Montagna and Lenny Hayes in round one gave Luke Dunstan his opportunity to debut at AFL level and the young midfielder has played every game but one this year.

"I obviously wanted to set the goal to play games but I didn't think it would actually happen," Dunstan said.

"It was obviously pretty daunting early on, playing your first AFL game in round one. You don't really know what to expect.

"I was just lucky to get the opportunity early on … if [Montagna and Hayes] were in, I don't know if I would have got an opportunity.

"I should be thanking them now."

Luke Dunstan becomes the Saints' first Rising Star nominee since mid-2012 after collecting 21 disposals as one of St Kilda's best players in a 17-point win against Melbourne.

Dunstan says he has benefited from a 'buddy system' at the Saints which has seen him paired up with Lenny Hayes.

"He's been massive for me so far. We've worked together closely for the last three months," Dunstan said.

"We go through vision together, we normally do all our extras before and after training together, and during the meetings we talk and have one-on-one chats. We've also been out for dinner a couple of times.

"He's an absolute ripper and I couldn't have asked for anything more."

Luke Dunstan makes his AFL debut for St Kilda at Docklands Stadium with 21 disposals (15 kicks and 6 handballs), 7 marks, 7 tackles and 1 hitouts in a 17-point win over Melbourne.

Saints coach Alan Richardson says Luke Dunstan is closing in on a round-one debut after tallying 20 disposals and 8 clearances in a practice match against Port Adelaide.

"He's done everything right, he's had another impressive performance," Richardson said.

"His ability to win the ball inside, big-bodied to be able to take the pressure of the opposition … we were plus-[21] in clearances and we rate [Port's] clearance work really strongly, so for him to be a big part in that was impressive today."

St Kilda's first-round pick Luke Dunstan says he hopes to make his debut this year.

It's just about finding my feet and earning a bit of respect from the playing group first," he said.

"As the year goes on, I'd like to set my goals on playing some senior footy and that's the expectation of the coaches as well."