St Kilda’s Sean Dempster announces his retirement

St Kilda veteran Sean Dempster has announced his retirement.

The star defender decided to call time on his 222-game career.

The 33-year old informed teammates this morning of his decision to hang up the boots immediately.

He has spent the past couple of weeks undergoing medical testing to determine the potential long-term impact of further head knocks.

He says he’s been left with no option but to quit, with the risk was too great to continue.

‘I copped a little head knock and given my history over my career of receiving quite a few head knocks I’ve decided that it’s a risk that’s too great for me, especially now that I’ve got a young family, it’s more than just worrying about myself it’s what it means to my wife and my young daughter,’ he said in a statement released on the club’s website.

Dempster was left out of the Saints’ first round line-up and did not play VFL the following day.

‘For the last couple of weeks the club has given me some time to myself and some time to go and get some independent testing done, which I’m still going through at the moment and is an ongoing assessment,’ he said.

‘The testing had nothing to do with my want to retire; I know it’s the best thing to do for me and my family.’