SUCH is the nature of team sport that while some can play out an entire career without achieving the ultimate success, there are a lucky few like Sean Dempster who can play in a premiership in their first season of AFL.

Dempster was a part of the Sydney Swans premiership side in 2005, but with just six touches in what was his 22nd AFL match, he is the first to admit there were plenty of others ahead of him who deserved the tag ‘premiership player’.

“I was pretty lucky to be playing in a successful team. At the time I was playing with Paul Williams - he’d played 300 odd games and I’d only played 22 to get my first premiership. It was a weird feeling but it is obviously something you appreciate the longer you play football,” he said.

“You realise how great it is to be able to play in a grand final, let alone win one. I was a little bit naive about how hard it was. Everything just jelled into place in my first year.”

Dempster, who was traded to the Saints at the end of last season, says one of the most impressive people he has met at his new club is veteran Robert Harvey.

 “Before I got here I’d heard a lot of stories about his professionalism and how hard he works and the extra stuff,” Dempster said.

“To come down here and to see a 37-year-old working that hard and commanding so much respect -- it is amazing that he can still keep doing what he’s doing at that age.”

Dempster says he had no problems adjusting to life at St Kilda, with coach Ross Lyon, fitness advisor Dave Misson and teammate Adam Schneider all joining him from Sydney.

Add a couple more familiar faces in former Gippsland Power teammates Brendon Goddard and Matthew Ferguson, and Dempster was right at home from the minute he walked in the doors at Moorabbin.

“All the boys and coaching staff have been very welcoming from day one. I’ve been here for the majority of the season now. I feel like I’m fitting in well and having a really good time.”

While some critics have pointed to significant cultural differences between the Sydney Swans and St Kilda, Dempster says the difference is negligible.

“It’s not different at all. Footy clubs are made up of really good blokes. The ones that tend to stuff around get weeded out in the end. A lot of footy clubs are the same these days.”

Dempster is happily settled in Cheltenham, just five minutes from Moorabbin in a shared house with teammates Jarryn Geary and David Armitage. Despite being the most senior member of the house, Dempster says there is no pecking order.

“They are a couple of years younger than me and I’m supposed to be a role model for them,” he laughs.

“But we have a lot of fun living together. It makes it easier coming from another team when you live with a couple of players.”

On field life is just as rosy for Dempster. He has played 17 games this season and despite usually playing a lock-down role he has already accumulated more disposals, marks and tackles than in any season he had in the harbor city.

“I’m pretty happy with how I’ve been going. I’ve still got a lot of stuff to work on to become a better player but the way the season’s panned out for me, I’ve been able to improve week in week out which has been something I’ve lacked in the last couple of years.