Dempster article

[Riewoldting]

Quiet achiever Dempster finds his voice
Jenny McAsey
The Australian
23 June 2007

WHEN Sydney and Collingwood run on to Telstra Stadium tonight, there will be a premiership player on the field who is as close to anonymous as it is possible to be in the intensely scrutinised world of the AFL.

If rag-haired Magpie youngster Dale Thomas is at one end of the sport's high-octane publicity scale, with his No.13 jumpers bolting out the door at the Collingwood shop, Sean Dempster is the game's ultimate quiet -- well, let's be frank, almost silent -- achiever.

Dempster has played 47 games, nearly twice as many as Thomas, and played in the past two grand finals, entrusted by the Swans' coaching staff with stick-tight roles on Eagles champions Ben Cousins and then Andrew Embley.

But mention his name to the average fan and it is likely to draw a blank.

Dempster, who was raised in the tiny, remote Victorian coastal town of Mallacoota and didn't start playing football until he was 15, has preferred it that way.

Till this week, he had not done any media interviews since he had a premiership medallion hung around his neck after the Swans' emotional 2005 triumph.

"I am pretty quiet, even just to do this interview took me a while to say yes," Dempster confided.

"I've probably done two in the 4 1/2 years I've been in Sydney. It isn't me, I like to be behind the scenes."

But things are changing. At 23, Dempster has resolved to start expressing himself, whether it be on-field, communicating more with his fellow defenders and playing more attacking football, or in team meetings and his personal life.

"I am still quiet but it is something I've got to work on, being a bit more outspoken. It will help me as a person and with my football career," Dempster said.

It is not surprising he is seldom noticed during games. Last year he averaged seven possessions, the second-lowest of all players who participated in more than 15 matches.

"It is pretty low," Dempster nods.

"It has gone up a little bit this year (to 10), but not drastically. I am trying to improve that but at the club it is never about possessions.

"Whereas if I was at another club, having an average of seven probably wouldn't get me a game!"

But he is at the Swans, where accountability is the foundation stone. Pressure skills are more valued than easy kicks.

In that area Dempster excels, epitomising the club's disciplined, defence-first ethos.

While he missed four games with a knee injury this season and was patchy on return, he was at his best on rising Hawthorn wingman Clinton Young two weeks ago.

Young had averaged 19 possessions until he came across Dempster, who stuck to him like poison ivy on a pole, cutting his output to a season-low 12 disposals.

Dempster had the ball only seven times himself but, in a sign that he is coming out of his shell, allowed his skills to shine when he had the chance.

In the first term the Swans were miserable but Dempster put a score on the board with a clever left-foot snap that just missed the goals.

Soon after he ran through the middle of the MCG and let fly with a booming right-foot kick that went at least 60m, notching the team's only goal for the quarter.

"In the past I've probably been too defensive, worried way too much about my man," Dempster said.

His aim on the field was simple: "Not to mess up too bad," he said, only half-joking.

"This year I have tried to find a bit more of the footy. I have a bit more confidence to go for those things, have a shot for goal."

Sydney's new defence coach, Peter Berbakov, has worked closely with Dempster, trying to get more balance into his play.

"He has got his place in the side by being a great runner and taking roles trying to stop players. He is super-accountable," Berbakov said.

"We have a lot of those guys. So this year one of his focuses is to be more attacking, to make sure if there is a chance to go and win the footy he backs himself."

At 192cm and 87kg, Dempster has the physical assets to succeed. He is one of the top endurance runners at Sydney and can roost the football further than most.

Confidence has been the missing ingredient but Berbakov sees it coming.

"There was even a little goal that he set himself this year for when there is a new training drill, he wants to make sure he is at the start of the line, to show he has the confidence to start the drill off," Berbakov said.

"He is not afraid of making mistakes, he is vocal and he can let people watch him instead of sitting at the back."

In last year's grand final, Dempster was soundly beaten by Embley, with the Eagle awarded the Norm Smith Medal for best on ground.

It was evidence Dempster still has a lot of developing to do. Berbakov, however, said he can aspire to be as good as Embley. "That is what I see as Sean's benchmark, where he should aim to get to," he said.

"I see him as a match-up for an Embley-type who is a terrific runner and can be really damaging but also super-accountable."

One of his close mates at the club, midfielder Amon Buchanan, said Dempster is quiet-natured but has a dry sense of humour.

Buchanan, at 179cm, looks up to Dempster in more ways than one. "I don't think there is any limit on how good he can be. He has got the perfect build to be a great footballer, he is tall and strong and he can run and mark and defend and he has a thumping kick, so he has all the things that I don't have," Buchanan said.

Throw his growing confidence into the package and Dempster might just start to make a name for himself.

[stinger]

good read.......thanks....