Sean Dempster

Sean Dempster (born 20 January 1984) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans and St Kilda Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL).

Sean Dempster
Dempster playing for St Kilda in 2011
Personal information
Full name Sean Dempster
Date of birth (1984-01-20) 20 January 1984
Original team(s) Gippsland Power (TAC Cup)
Draft No. 34, 2002 National Draft
Height 191 cm (6 ft 3 in)
Weight 87 kg (192 lb)
Position(s) Defender
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2005–2007 Sydney 054 0(8)
2008–2017 St Kilda 158 (13)
Total 222 (21)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2017.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Early life

Born in 1984, Dempster grew up in the Victorian town of Mallacoota.[1] As there was no football club in the town, Dempster played junior football with the Snowy Rovers Football Club in Orbost.[2] He later playing with Gippsland Power in the TAC Cup before being recruited by the Sydney Swans in the 2002 National AFL Draft under the father-son rule - his father, Graham Dempster, having played 64 games for South Melbourne Football Club between 1972 and 1979.[3]

AFL career

Sydney Swans

Dempster played his first AFL game in Round 3, 2005, against the Brisbane Lions wearing jersey number 26. In the 2005 AFL season, he played 22 matches, first as a defender and later on the wing. He was a member of Sydney's 2005 AFL Grand Final premiership team. In the following AFL season, he played 18 matches, mostly as a defender, including the Sydney losing grand final team. He played a total of 54 games for Sydney before being traded to the St Kilda Football Club with Adam Schneider at the end of the 2007 AFL season.

St Kilda Football Club

Dempster played 19 games for St Kilda in 2008. He injured his knee in Round 22 and was unable to play in the finals that year.

Dempster played in eight of the 22 matches in the 2009 season's home and away rounds in which St Kilda qualified in first position for the finals series, winning the club’s third minor premiership.[4]

St Kilda qualified for the 2009 AFL Grand Final after qualifying and preliminary finals wins. Dempster played in the grand final in which St Kilda were defeated by Geelong.[5]

Dempster played 14 games in 2010, including four finals matches.

As of the end of the 2010 season, Dempster had played in 13 finals series matches, including five grand finals.

In 2012, Dempster played all 22 matches of St Kilda's season, and demonstrated strong form throughout. Dempster was named on the half-back flank of the All-Australian team after his impressive season.

In April 2017, Dempster announced his retirement from the AFL, effective immediately. The decision came as a result of a number of concussions Dempster suffered throughout his career, deciding it was too much of a risk to play football again and receive another blow to the head, having started a young family.[6] He was the last remaining player from the Sydney Swans' 2005 premiership side to retire.[7]

Statistics
[8]
Legend
 G  Goals  B  Behinds  K  Kicks  H  Handballs  D  Disposals  M  Marks  T  Tackles
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2005 Sydney 262201915714842560.00.04.12.66.71.92.5
2006 Sydney 261852823912141470.30.14.62.26.72.32.6
2007 Sydney 261434916015152280.20.36.54.310.83.72.0
2008 St Kilda 24193213210223472520.20.16.95.412.33.82.7
2009 St Kilda 2493455439837320.30.46.14.810.94.13.6
2010 St Kilda 241412918217373490.10.16.55.912.45.23.5
2011 St Kilda 24232618114032191730.10.37.96.114.04.03.2
2012 St Kilda 242202274115389155430.00.112.55.217.77.02.0
2013 St Kilda 241910200102302113350.10.010.55.415.95.91.8
2014 St Kilda 242223255111366136290.10.111.65.016.66.21.3
2015 St Kilda 242100238134372148360.00.011.36.417.77.01.7
2016 St Kilda 241910148109257109270.10.07.85.713.55.71.4
Career 222 21 26 1838 1094 2932 1069 507 0.1 0.1 8.3 4.9 13.2 4.8 2.3

References
  1. ABC News, Mallacoota man plays in Swans grand final, 23 September 2005, retrieved 2009-09-24
  2. RealFooty.com.au, Field of Dreams, 23 June 2007, retrieved 2009-09-25
  3. AFL statistics for Graham Dempster
  4. "2009 Season Scores and Results - Ladder". AFL Tables. 2009. Retrieved 8 November 2009.
  5. afl.com.au Archived 29 September 2009 at the Wayback Machine, "Cats the last ones standing in epic battle", 26 September 2009, retrieved 2009-09-27
  6. Gabelich, Josh (6 April 2017). "'Shinner' puts health and family first". saints.com.au. Telstra. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  7. Schmook, Nathan (6 April 2017). "Head knocks force Saints veteran to retire". AFL.com.au. Retrieved 6 April 2017.
  8. Sean Dempster's player profile at AFL Tables
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