For Dempster, most of those campaigns have also been about the battle simply to stay afloat as an AFL player, utilising his strength of character and maximising what were widely seen as limited abilities. Which has made this off-season feel pretty different, too.
After a stellar 2012, in which, after eight seasons at senior level, 141 games and at nearly 29, he won All-Australian selection and finished third in St Kilda's best and fairest for a second year in a row, Dempster will enter 2013 perceived as a leading light for the Saints, the heightened expectations beyond those of himself and his coaches a novelty.
He's dealt with that the same way he's dealt with everything thrown his way. Hard work, and more hard work.
''I suppose it's the first time I've actually had a little bit of recognition, so maybe I've put a bit more pressure on myself,'' he says from Boulder, the Saints having just finished a six-hour 24-kilometre hike at high altitude.
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For Dempster, the Colorado camp has been a good starting point to a new St Kilda campaign. He had heard and read plenty about the US excursions conducted first by Collingwood, then North Melbourne, and now a multitude of rivals. Having experienced the reality, he says it's an ''eye-opener''.
''The first thing I noticed was that every 10 minutes or so you find yourself needing to take a deep breath because your body needs that little bit extra oxygen,'' he says. ''The sports science guys tell us it's harder for your body to utilise it and you need to work harder to draw that oxygen in, so that's where the advantage comes in, having to work harder without actually putting your body through a lot more work.
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While he and the likes of Nick Riewoldt, Lenny Hayes, Leigh Montagna and Nick Dal Santo are far closer to the end of their careers than the beginning, Dempster says there's an upbeat feel about what St Kilda can achieve in 2013, and to that end, the example of his former club, Sydney, has provided a little more encouragement still.
''They've had those younger guys like [Lewis] Jetta come in that have been able to provide some spark and take pressure off guys like [Adam] Goodes and [Ryan] O'Keefe, and the way our list looks, I think we're every chance to be able to do the same thing. I think anything's possible. You do take confidence from that because they were good enough to do it without needing to start from scratch again.''
Dempster ticks off those younger faces, such as Tom Simpkin, Ahmed Saad, Terry Milera, Rhys Stanley, Arryn Siposs and Tom Ledger. ''Last season, a few of the younger blokes really stood up, and that's something that maybe we'd been lacking the last few years.''
And now he knows it's time to be taking a bigger role in teaching them the tricks of the trade.
''I'm quite a reserved person, and it's something both Scott and my line coach Danny Sexton have mentioned during this pre-season, that I need to be able to provide a bit of knowledge and support for the other players,'' he says.
''Scott was saying the other day we've had 20 list changes over the last two years, so there's a lot of younger boys. I've been around a while now, and I'd like to think I've got a bit to offer those players.''
Given how steadily Dempster has progressed from perceived ''battler'' status to something considerably more, no one at St Kilda would be surprised to see him add that leadership mantle to a kit bag already a lot fuller than it used to be.
Read more: http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/t ... z2ET3YdVo5
