SEAN Dempster knows more about the AFL's boom and bust cycles than most footballers.

And the 31-year-old premiership player is bullish when he says that St Kilda's stocks are rising fast.

On the cusp of his 200th match – a milestone he once thought out of reach – Dempster believes that the rejuvenated Saints can achieve something special before he cashes out of the game for good.

"I definitely do. Although the wins and losses probably don't show it this year, we've definitely improved a lot since last year just in terms of our overall competitiveness," Dempster told AFL.com.au this week. 

"Once you get 20, 30, 50 games into some of our younger players that we've drafted over the last couple of years, we'll be a very competitive side.

"So if I can hang on until then, it should be good times ahead." 

Reflecting on his career in a rare interview ahead of his milestone match against Fremantle, the media-shy backman says he's learnt to cherish every win during a lean spell for the Saints over the past five seasons.

And it's hardly surprising that Dempster admits to taking success for granted early in his career.

Few players get to parade around the MCG with a premiership medallion hanging from their neck after only 22 games, as he did with his Sydney Swans teammates in 2005. 

"I'd been in the system for three years but hadn't managed to get a game, so it all fell into place," Dempster said of his part in the Bloods' drought-breaking flag.

"I played my first game at the start of the year and it just all rolled along into a premiership."

While most footballers dream of playing in just one Grand Final, Dempster appeared in five before he had even notched 100 games. 

But the last four of those opportunities were missed – with one loss as a Swan (2006) and two defeats plus a draw as a Saint (2009, 2010). 

And in the downturn that every AFL veteran inevitably faces during their career, the underrated Saint has played in just one more final and only 38 wins from his past 103 games. 

"Looking back at it now and how hard we've had to work over the last couple of years just to get wins on the board, I definitely look back and go 'How hard is it to win a premiership?' It's a very hard path." 

Sean Dempster competes with Darren Milburn during the 2009 Grand Final

Although it's been a barren run from a team perspective, Dempster's stock has kept on rising like a blue-chip investment. 

When Scott Watters replaced Ross Lyon as coach for 2012, he released the shackles and encouraged the reliable defender to take the game on. 

Dempster responded by earning an All Australian guernsey in a back pocket, capping off consecutive seasons of top-three placings in the Trevor Barker Award.

"I've probably never had that individual recognition before. I probably fly under the radar – and I'm happy with that," he said. 

"But to be recognised by your peers in that year as being one of the better back pockets in the League was something pretty special."

But by the time the Saints tumbled into free-fall in 2013, winning just five games after 12 the previous season, the winds of change were sweeping through Seaford.

Watters was sacked, while Nick Dal Santo and potential captain Ben McEvoy followed Brendon Goddard out the door. 

Despite another solid year, a soon-to-be 30-year-old Dempster wasn't sure where he fitted into new boss Alan Richardson's plans in a full-scale rebuild. But he had no reason to worry. 

"He's been super. Being a footballer and being confident about where I sit in the team isn't something I've been great at over the years," Dempster said.

"So he's been able to just calm me down and let me know that I'm a valuable part of the team, which is probably something you want to hear when you're getting to the latter stage of your career that you're still contributing to the side." 

Dempster again ran a place in the best and fairest last year and, although his contract's set to expire, he's all but certain to be offered a new deal. 

He's played every game in 2015, and is averaging more disposals (17.9), marks (7.1), rebound 50s (4.2) than his All Australian season. 

But he's rarely been spoken about, which suits Dempster's desire to live his life away from the football spotlight.

Over the past seven years he's quietly chipped away at a bio-medical science degree, which has helped take his mind off the sport he stepped into as a father-son selection (pick 34) in the 2002 draft (his dad Graham played 64 games for South Melbourne). 

"It definitely takes the pressure off of having to worry about a contract year in and year out, and where's the money going to come in and what am I going to do for the rest of my life?" he said. 

"It definitely does make the football side of it a little bit easier." 

Dempster has just one more unit to complete before he finally completes his degree, although he's still unsure exactly what path he'll follow post-football. 

But if his form stays true, then trying to help St Kilda win its second flag might be his main concern for a few years yet. 

"I've been lucky to be a part of some really good sides early on in my career," Dempster said.

"To finish on a high is what everyone wants."