St Kilda's seven-goal loss to Geelong last Saturday was a forgettable afternoon for the AFL club, but an important day for Sean Dempster.

The former Sydney premiership defender resumed from pre-season knee surgery and played his first game for the Saints.

Dempster, 24, and fellow Swan Adam Schneider were traded to the Saints at the end of last season.

The Saints also imported Steven King and Charlie Gardiner from Geelong and Dempster said it meant a lot to debut for his new team.

"I was speaking to Steven King, just before the Geelong match, and he was saying how big a thing it is to be traded to another club - all you want to do is get that first game out of the way, so you can really feel a part of it," Dempster said.

"As much as the club makes you feel a part of it beforehand, you always want to play that one game, get it out of the way.

"It was a big thing ... I guess you want to prove to the club that them trading for you was worthwhile, you want to earn respect from your team-mates."

Dempster admits that news of his trade initially did not add to an idyllic post-season trip to Fiji last October with his girlfriend.

They were staying on a small island and his father had to track him down by fax, telling Dempster to contact his manager urgently.

Dempster said he was "a bit quiet" for a day or two as it sank in that his AFL career had been turned upside down.

"I spoke with (Saints coach) Ross Lyon on the phone, he explained that they really wanted me - it wasn't that hard a decision in the end," Dempster said.

"At the time I was pretty devastated at leaving the Swans after being there for five years, but as the holiday went on I realised I had a great opportunity going to the Saints.

"It was such a beautiful place, it was hard to dwell on the fact that I was leaving Sydney."

Better known as a run-with defender or tagger, Dempster is relishing the chance at St Kilda to learn a more attacking role in the back lines.

The Saints play Essendon on Friday night at Telstra Dome and are coming off two losses, which have stalled their promising start to the year.

Essendon's free-running game is similar to what the Bulldogs unleashed on St Kilda a fortnight ago, where the `Dogs turned around a poor first term and beat them convincingly.

"Essendon have been travelling well, too, so if we can get a win against (them), it holds us in good stead for the next two weeks leading up to the bye," he said.

"That's what we're looking for.

"They play a similar game to the Bulldogs, a lot of running players, we're going to have to be on top of our game to beat them.

"It (the Bulldogs loss) was a very disappointing game for us, so to come up against a team that does play a similar style is something we're looking forward to as a bit of a challenge."

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