sean dempster!!

[sainter#4]

anyone else excited about seeing him play as i am?
ive got a feeling he will be our most successful out of all the new players this year
an that he can add alot to our side with his run an bounce, long kicking style of game play while tagging some of the comps elite runners goodes, embley, kennely type of players

mark my words he is ONE TO WATCH

[Batnoe]

Going by the players you inserted above, maybe thats why they got rid of him, no place for 3 people in the same team

[barneyboyz]

anyone else excited about seeing him play as i am?
ive got a feeling he will be our most successful out of all the new players this year
an that he can add alot to our side with his run an bounce, long kicking style of game play while tagging some of the comps elite runners goodes, embley, kennely type of players

mark my words he is ONE TO WATCH

Yeah, thought that myself right from the start, someone who might just sneak in underneath

[Otiman]

From what I can tell he's a more defensive version of Blake, who himself was more defensive this year and played well. They might be fighting for a spot with each other, come finals time.

I never really noticed him at the Swans, but when you see one or two of their games a year it's pretty hard.

[vacuous space]

I never really noticed him at the Swans, but when you see one or two of their games a year it's pretty hard.

Hard to notice a guy who never gets the ball. I challenge anyone to come up with a 50 gamer with less disposals than Dempster. He does a decent job of limiting his opponents, but they still average near double the amount of touches that he does. I can't see him getting a game unless there are injuries.

I'd be more excited about our other recruits.

[Oh When the Saints]

Get excited about him.

Will only keep improving.

And Lyon loves him ...

[vacuous space]

Get excited about him.

Why? He's never done anything to indicate he'll ever be anything more than a fringe player. The ball is literally afraid of him. Leigh Fisher, Raph Clarke and Shane Birss are all much better players than Dempster. Nobody's getting pumped about their 2008. Schneider is exciting. King, if healthy, is exciting. Even Charlie Gardiner can find the football and do some good things with it. Sean Dempster has never been anywhere near exciting.

[Otiman]

What is worrying is that with all of these defensive players who aren't adept at finding the ball, what happens when our ball getters are locked down?

The answer is that it will be a scrap. Ugly footy that no-one wants to see, or at least not that you could see from the stands.

It's great to have guys in mind for specific matchups on opponents, but to play guys like Blake, Dempster, L. Fisher, Attard, Rix all in the same side, we could be in trouble when it comes time to actually get the pill.

[LENNY LEADS THE WAY]

What is worrying is that with all of these defensive players who aren't adept at finding the ball, what happens when our ball getters are locked down?

The answer is that it will be a scrap. Ugly footy that no-one wants to see, or at least not that you could see from the stands.

It's great to have guys in mind for specific matchups on opponents, but to play guys like Blake, Dempster, L. Fisher, Attard, Rix all in the same side, we could be in trouble when it comes time to actually get the pill.

I think u have no need for worry, attard knee gone, rix not likely with king, gards, kosi around so we can easily play l fisher, blake and dempster in the same team.

Strong attackers are great but u still require many good solid defenders

[meher baba]

What is worrying is that with all of these defensive players who aren't adept at finding the ball, what happens when our ball getters are locked down?

The answer is that it will be a scrap. Ugly footy that no-one wants to see, or at least not that you could see from the stands.

It's great to have guys in mind for specific matchups on opponents, but to play guys like Blake, Dempster, L. Fisher, Attard, Rix all in the same side, we could be in trouble when it comes time to actually get the pill.

Otiman, I agree. It's a depressing sign that some of our fellow posters are getting excited about watching a player like Dempster.

Personally, I'm excited about prospects of Harves, Riewoldt, Kosi, G-train, Dal, Gilbert, Chips, Grammy and Lenny going around again, BJ coming back, the Clarke brothers hitting their straps, Bally getting some of his fitness back and even the likes of Schneider and C Gardiner getting on the field and kicking some goals.

I'm afraid that Dempster rates a million miles behind all of those prospects for 2008 in my expectations: just marginally above the prospect of CJ playing seniors and Attard coming back from injury.

Oh well, whatever turns you on: personally, I prefer football to rugby.

[footynut]

Now I can understand why someone may be excited about Dempster, as it has been report that he has the ability to play a similar role as Leo Barry at Sydney and was being held back.

now if he can create some extra dash from back line while negating his opponent then he will end up being an extremely valiable player for us. Some people often forget that in football, although you need to be able to kick a winning score (which we have the potential to do) you need to have the ability to stop your opposition.

Historically Grand Finals are Won by teams with the better defense.

[BAM! (shhhh)]

Only reason to be excited about Dempster is if you get excited about the defensive GOPs. IF he gets into the 22, then the only time he's likely to get noticed is if things go wrong. He's solid and effective from a defensive standpoint, and hopefully through '08 he'll be useful... but if he turns out to be someone who is a regular meainingful contributor to wins, I will be shocked.

[hAyES]

I can barely remember who he is so you can tell I'm not that excited by him. Is he the one who kept Dal almost without a touch in the game in Sydney last year? If so, he could be pretty handy as a tagger while Bakes and Attard are out.

[saintsRrising]

well I don't know if I am excited about seeing him play....but yes I am very interested.


With a few younguns in Armo and Geary pushing up.....our 2007 fringe...combined with Dempster, King, C Gardiner, M Gardiner plus less injuries means that the final 22 will be onea lot harder to get into and secondly that Ross will bea lot freer to try and structure the team up like hec wants it as he has more and better cattle to work with....encluding marginal cattle sych as Dempster.


So I will be very interested to see who plays where..and it what roles.

[nebulousdog]

King and Schneids have overshadowed dempster, but he has a lot of potential, both following an opposition bloke and in his own right. could be the surprise packet.

[evertonfc]

King and Schneids have overshadowed dempster, but he has a lot of potential, both following an opposition bloke and in his own right. could be the surprise packet.

Solid first post.

Plus you're from Adelaide, which means you like Coopers Pale. Good. Welcome to the board.

[plugger66]

King and Schneids have overshadowed dempster, but he has a lot of potential, both following an opposition bloke and in his own right. could be the surprise packet.

Solid first post.

Plus you're from Adelaide, which means you like Coopers Pale. Good. Welcome to the board.

Drinking that rubbish is like barracking for the pies. Leaves an ordinary taste.

[Armoooo]

King and Schneids have overshadowed dempster, but he has a lot of potential, both following an opposition bloke and in his own right. could be the surprise packet.

I agree, he has a booming kick and with a bit of confidence he can play a bit too...

[mad saint guy]

Exciting is not one word I would use to describe Dempster. He is very much a negating player and whenever he gets selected 80% of people watching the game will barely notice him.

He is a reasonable tagger/third defender who doesn't win a lot of the footy but uses it fairly well when he does get it. Can lose confidence and get mauled by his opponent occasionally.

If he plays much this year I would expect it mainly to be as a tall midfield tagger, although if we've got a healthy squad I can't see room for both Dempster and Blake (and Blake will no doubt be selected first).

[Saints Premiers 2008]

Exciting is not one word I would use to describe Dempster. He is very much a negating player and whenever he gets selected 80% of people watching the game will barely notice him.

He is a reasonable tagger/third defender who doesn't win a lot of the footy but uses it fairly well when he does get it. Can lose confidence and get mauled by his opponent occasionally.

If he plays much this year I would expect it mainly to be as a tall midfield tagger, although if we've got a healthy squad I can't see room for both Dempster and Blake (and Blake will no doubt be selected first).

after watching a game of his yesterday his disposal is terrible...boarding blake-esque

its time the forum stopped collectively orgasming over good average players

[Saint_in_SA]

There is a lot of blind optimism getting around here - people are wetting themselves over the fact we have done so well in the trade period. Let's look at it objectively (or at least try to!)

Dempster - fringe at best, as he was with the Swans when they were injury free, player 22-27 IMHO

Charlie Gardiner - similar to Dempster, second string forward who couldn't break into Geelong's strong lineup when relatively injury free, again player 22-27.

King - 29 year old ruckman who was superceded by Blake and Ottens before leaving the Cats, best footy when he dominated is behind him methinks.

Schneider - no doubting he is a quality acquisition with many good years left as an opportunist forward.

M Gardiner - to be realistic, hasn't played for yonks and hasn't dominated for even longer, West Coast saw his best.

[Otiman]

Rose coloured glasses mode - engage!

Dempster - Tall run-with player that Ross Lyon loves, can fill in as key defender with his height if required.

Charlie Gardiner - With the retirement of Voss and Hamill, we have NO mid size forwards. He will slot in nicely

King - An AFL level ruckman, which we wouldn't have if Gardiner goes down and Kosi goes forward.

Schneider - Good small forward/mid

M Gardiner - more hope here than anything, no real expectations from anyone, even from the start.

[Animal Enclosure]

I wouldn't forget that in most sides coaches have designated players to kick, run & carry and limit their opponent.

Dempster was not one of the designated players in the Sydney side to rack up possies.

Realistically we just need him to be efficient with the ball when he has it & not be a clanger king. If he gets it 10 times and hits teammates 9 times then he's doing his job offensively.

[TimeToShineFellas]

its time the forum stopped collectively orgasming over good average players

Especially those players who are used as posters' avatars

[St DAC]

Especially those players who are used as posters' avatars

Nice piece of work right there ...