Steve Smith’s admission he took sleeping tablets during the second test has been widely reported in the media, but it’s no big deal, says former AFL star Nick Dal Santo.

“I took sleeping tablets for the last 10 years and particularly after a night game,” Nick told SEN on Thursday.

“I never abused it, never didn’t anything silly, but I also felt that I needed to take them as a way to go to sleep — as a circuit breaker.

“It’s like you’ve been to a concert. You’re laying there and you can just hear the noise and your reliving the moments of the game — the mistakes, the things that you did really well.

“I used to take sleeping tablets as a way to physically go to sleep, but I also felt that was the way that I recovered. I was able to sleep for 7-8 hours — which if I didn’t take I wouldn’t be getting — because you’ve got to get up the next morning and do your recovery down at the ocean or at the football club.”