DOB: 4 March 1978
Debut: Round 6, 1997 against St. Kilda at Waverley
Last Game: Elimination Final 2005 against Geelong at MCG
From: Claremont, selection #22, 1996 National Draft
Number: 44 (1997-2000), 8 (2001-2005)
Honours:
Life Member - 2006
Games: 110
Goals: 3
Career Statistics
| Wins | Draws | Losses | Winning % |
| 57 | 0 | 53 | 51.81 |
Initially a hockey player, Nicholson switched sports after missing out on Western Australian state selection. He played his only season of competitive football as an 18-year-old with the Claremont Colts, winning a premiership and being named as an emergency for the WAFL senior grand final.
Picked based on his potential after his six month stint with Claremont, Nicholson was selected by the Demons with a late draft pick and made his debut as a ruckman in 1997 but didn't play again for another two years. He had done little in debut on a wet, horrible day for the Demons when they were thrashed and suffered a groin injury two weeks later which ended his year. The next season he found it impossible to break into the side due to the emergence of Jeff White.
Nicholson finally got his chance in 1999 when he played thirteen games, until a broken leg late in the year ended his season. Reinventing himself as a defender in 2000, Nicholson had just established himself as his side's permanent full-back when he suffered a serious knee injury in Round 11, 2002 that sidelined him until midway through the next season. After his surgery Nicholson contracted an infection which caused him to lose 8kg.
He played ten games in 2003 until surgery for a foot complaint ended his year after round 19 before bouncing back to play every game in 2004 and 14 in 2005.
In 2006 he found himself out of fashion again and spent the entire season playing in the VFL for Sandringham, where he appeared in their premiership side. At the end of that year the Demons delisted him despite Nicholson having another year on his contract.
In 2014 he became CEO of the Australian Cricketers' Association, and CEO of the AFL Coaches' Association in 2021.
| Year | Games | Goals | Brownlow |
| 1997 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 1999 | 13 | 0 | 0 |
| 2000 | 16 | 0 | 0 |
| 2001 | 22 | 1 | 1 |
| 2002 | 11 | 2 | 0 |
| 2003 | 10 | 0 | 0 |
| 2004 | 23 | 0 | 0 |
| 2005 | 14 | 0 | 0 |
Notes
Attended Scotch College (WA) but did not play for them
Lists
9 Point Goals
Interstate recruits
Media
Age - 26/01/2000, 17/02/2000, 01/08/2002
Herald Sun - 23/07/2000, 29/04/2001
Links
Australian Rules Football Wiki profile
Demonwiki image gallery
Draftguru profile
Wikipedia profile