View source for Sean Dempster

{{short description|Australian rules footballer, born 1984}}
{{Use Australian English|date=September 2012}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox AFL biography
| name = Sean Dempster
| image = Sean Dempster 2.jpg
| alt = 
| caption = Dempster playing for [[St Kilda Football Club|St Kilda]] in 2011
| fullname = Sean Dempster
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1984|1|20|df=yes}}
| birth_place = 
| death_date = 
| death_place = 
| originalteam = [[Gippsland Power]] ([[TAC Cup]])
| draftpick = No. 34, [[2002 AFL draft|2002 national draft]]
| height = 191&nbsp;cm
| weight = 87&nbsp;kg
| position = [[Australian rules football positions|Defender]]
| years1 = 2005&ndash;2007
| club1 = {{AFL Syd}}
| games_goals1 = {{0}}54 {{0}}(8)
| years2 = 2008&ndash;2017
| club2 = {{AFL StK}}
| games_goals2 = 158 (13)
| games_goalstotal = 222 (21)
| statsend = 2017
| careerhighlights = *[[AFL Premiership]] 2005
*[[All-Australian team]] 2012
*3rd in [[Trevor Barker Award]] 2011, 2012, 2014, 2015
}}

'''Sean Dempster''' (born 20 January 1984) is a former [[Australian rules football]]er 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]].<ref>[https://archive.today/20120721035320/http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2005/09/23/1466816.htm ABC News], ''Mallacoota man plays in Swans grand final'', 23 September 2005, retrieved 2009-09-24</ref> As there was no football club in the town, Dempster played junior football with the Snowy Rovers Football Club in [[Orbost]].<ref>[http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/where-do-you-find-stars/2007/06/22/1182019372353.html?page=fullpage#contentSwap2 RealFooty.com.au], ''Field of Dreams'', 23 June 2007, retrieved 2009-09-25</ref> He later playing with [[Gippsland Power]] in the [[TAC Cup]] before being recruited by the [[Sydney Swans]] in the [[2002 AFL draft|2002 national AFL draft]] under the [[father–son rule]] – his father, [[Graham Dempster]], having played 64 games for [[Sydney Swans|South Melbourne Football Club]] between 1972 and 1979.<ref>[http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/G/Graham_Dempster.html AFL statistics for Graham Dempster]</ref>

==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 [[Australian Football League|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 [[2006 AFL Grand Final|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 [[2009 AFL season|third minor premiership]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://afltables.com/afl/seas/2009.html#lad|title=2009 Season Scores and Results – Ladder|work=AFL Tables|year=2009|access-date=2009-11-08}}</ref>

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.<ref>[http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/85368/default.aspx afl.com.au] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090929084520/http://www.afl.com.au/news/newsarticle/tabid/208/newsid/85368/default.aspx |date=29 September 2009 }}, "Cats the last ones standing in epic battle", 26 September 2009, retrieved 2009-09-27</ref>

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 [[2012 All-Australian team|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.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.saints.com.au/news/2017-04-06/shinner-puts-health-and-family-first|title='Shinner' puts health and family first|last=Gabelich|first=Josh|date=6 April 2017|work=saints.com.au|publisher=[[Telstra]]|access-date=6 April 2017}}</ref> He was the last remaining player from the [[Sydney Swans]]' [[2005 AFL Grand Final|2005 premiership side]] to retire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.afl.com.au/news/2017-04-06/saints-veteran-calls-it-quits|title=Head knocks force Saints veteran to retire|publisher=AFL.com.au|first=Nathan|last=Schmook|date=6 April 2017|access-date=6 April 2017}}</ref>

==Statistics==
:<ref>[http://afltables.com/afl/stats/players/S/Sean_Dempster.html Sean Dempster's player profile at AFL Tables]</ref>

{{AFL player statistics legend}}
{{AFL player statistics start}}
|- style="background-color: #EAEAEA"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2005 AFL season|2005]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Syd}}
| 26 || 22 || 0 || 1 || 91 || 57 || 148 || 42 || 56 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 4.1 || 2.6 || 6.7 || 1.9 || 2.5
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2006 AFL season|2006]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Syd}}
| 26 || 18 || 5 || 2 || 82 || 39 || 121 || 41 || 47 || 0.3 || 0.1 || 4.6 || 2.2 || 6.7 || 2.3 || 2.6
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2007 AFL season|2007]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL Syd}}
| 26 || 14 || 3 || 4 || 91 || 60 || 151 || 52 || 28 || 0.2 || 0.3 || 6.5 || 4.3 || 10.8 || 3.7 || 2.0
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2008 AFL season|2008]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL StK}}
| 24 || 19 || 3 || 2 || 132 || 102 || 234 || 72 || 52 || 0.2 || 0.1 || 6.9 || 5.4 || 12.3 || 3.8 || 2.7
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2009 AFL season|2009]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL StK}}
| 24 || 9 || 3 || 4 || 55 || 43 || 98 || 37 || 32 || 0.3 || 0.4 || 6.1 || 4.8 || 10.9 || 4.1 || 3.6
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2010 AFL season|2010]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL StK}}
| 24 || 14 || 1 || 2 || 91 || 82 || 173 || 73 || 49 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 6.5 || 5.9 || 12.4 || 5.2 || 3.5
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2011 AFL season|2011]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL StK}}
| 24 || 23 || 2 || 6 || 181 || 140 || 321 || 91 || 73 || 0.1 || 0.3 || 7.9 || 6.1 || 14.0 || 4.0 || 3.2
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2012 AFL season|2012]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL StK}}
| 24 || 22 || 0 || 2 || 274 || 115 || 389 || 155 || 43 || 0.0 || 0.1 || 12.5 || 5.2 || 17.7 || 7.0 || 2.0
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2013 AFL season|2013]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL StK}}
| 24 || 19 || 1 || 0 || 200 || 102 || 302 || 113 || 35 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 10.5 || 5.4 || 15.9 || 5.9 || 1.8
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2014 AFL season|2014]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL StK}}
| 24 || 22 || 2 || 3 || 255 || 111 || 366 || 136 || 29 || 0.1 || 0.1 || 11.6 || 5.0 || 16.6 || 6.2 || 1.3
|- style="background:#eaeaea;"
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2015 AFL season|2015]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL StK}}
| 24 || 21 || 0 || 0 || 238 || 134 || 372 || 148 || 36 || 0.0 || 0.0 || 11.3 || 6.4 || 17.7 || 7.0 || 1.7
|-
! scope="row" style="text-align:center" | [[2016 AFL season|2016]]
|style="text-align:center;"|{{AFL StK}}
| 24 || 19 || 1 || 0 || 148 || 109 || 257 || 109 || 27 || 0.1 || 0.0 || 7.8 || 5.7 || 13.5 || 5.7 || 1.4
|- class="sortbottom"
! colspan=3| Career
! 222
! 21
! 26
! 1838
! 1094
! 2932
! 1069
! 507
! 0.1
! 0.1
! 8.3
! 4.9
! 13.2
! 4.8
! 2.3
{{AFL player statistics end}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Stkplayer}}
*{{AFL Tables|ref=S/Sean_Dempster.html}}
*[http://www.footywire.com/afl/footy/pp-sydney-swans--sean-dempster Footy Wire player profile]

{{2005 Sydney Swans premiership players}}
{{2012 All-Australian team}}
{{2002 AFL national draft}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dempster, Sean}}
[[Category:1984 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:All-Australians (AFL)]]
[[Category:Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)]]
[[Category:Sydney Swans players]]
[[Category:Sydney Swans premiership players]]
[[Category:St Kilda Football Club players]]
[[Category:Gippsland Power players]]
[[Category:VFL/AFL premiership players]]
[[Category:21st-century Australian sportsmen]]