Sean Dempster

Australian rules footballer, born 1984

Australian rules footballer
Sean Dempster
Dempster playing for St Kilda in 2011
Personal information
Full name Sean Dempster
Date of birth (1984-01-20) 20 January 1984 (age 40)
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
  • AFL Premiership 2005
  • All-Australian team 2012
  • 3rd in Trevor Barker Award 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

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

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 guernsey 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
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game)
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2005 Sydney 26 22 0 1 91 57 148 42 56 0.0 0.0 4.1 2.6 6.7 1.9 2.5
2006 Sydney 26 18 5 2 82 39 121 41 47 0.3 0.1 4.6 2.2 6.7 2.3 2.6
2007 Sydney 26 14 3 4 91 60 151 52 28 0.2 0.3 6.5 4.3 10.8 3.7 2.0
2008 St Kilda 24 19 3 2 132 102 234 72 52 0.2 0.1 6.9 5.4 12.3 3.8 2.7
2009 St Kilda 24 9 3 4 55 43 98 37 32 0.3 0.4 6.1 4.8 10.9 4.1 3.6
2010 St Kilda 24 14 1 2 91 82 173 73 49 0.1 0.1 6.5 5.9 12.4 5.2 3.5
2011 St Kilda 24 23 2 6 181 140 321 91 73 0.1 0.3 7.9 6.1 14.0 4.0 3.2
2012 St Kilda 24 22 0 2 274 115 389 155 43 0.0 0.1 12.5 5.2 17.7 7.0 2.0
2013 St Kilda 24 19 1 0 200 102 302 113 35 0.1 0.0 10.5 5.4 15.9 5.9 1.8
2014 St Kilda 24 22 2 3 255 111 366 136 29 0.1 0.1 11.6 5.0 16.6 6.2 1.3
2015 St Kilda 24 21 0 0 238 134 372 148 36 0.0 0.0 11.3 6.4 17.7 7.0 1.7
2016 St Kilda 24 19 1 0 148 109 257 109 27 0.1 0.0 7.8 5.7 13.5 5.7 1.4
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

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sean Dempster.
  • Sean Dempster's profile on the official website of the St Kilda Football Club
  • Sean Dempster's playing statistics from AFL Tables
  • Footy Wire player profile
  • v
  • t
  • e
Sydney Swans 2005 AFL premiers
Sydney Swans 8.10 (58) defeated West Coast Eagles 7.12 (54), at the Melbourne Cricket Ground
Coach: Roos
  • v
  • t
  • e
2012 All-Australian team
Full-back
Half-back
Centre
Half-forward
Full-forward
Ruck
Interchange
Coach
← 2011
The position of coach in the All-Australian team has been awarded to the coach of the premiership-winning team since 1999.
2013 →
  • v
  • t
  • e
First round
Second round
Third round
Fourth round
Fifth round
Sixth round
Seventh round
  • 84. Mick Martyn