Selected with pick 12 in the 2016 national draft, the 24-year-old has shown consistent growth, beginning his career as a small forward before moving into the midfield and having an immediate impact.
Claiming the Syd Barker Medal (North Melbourne’s best and fairest) in 2021 after a second placed finish in 2020, Simpkin has already been elevated to vice-captain of the club and presents as one of the key figures in its ongoing rebuild.
Now entering his sixth season at AFL level, Simpkin said he could not wait to get into it with an exciting group of young Kangaroos.
“I am feeling really good (at the start of the season), I think the group is really excited for what we can achieve this year, and anything is possible,” Simpkin said.
“Obviously the last couple of years haven’t been very good for us, but we are all feeling very confident heading into the new year with a lot of new guys and young fellas coming through like Tom Powell, Jason Horne-Francis, Luke Davies-Uniacke and Tarryn Thomas.”
As COVID-19 ravaged its way through the AFL fraternity over the summer, it was an unusual preseason for Simpkin as he battled through a number of obstacles he had never faced in previous years.
“It was a bit different this preseason with COVID-19 and some sicknesses getting around the club, so the most important thing was ticking off as many sessions as possible,” he said.
“I had COVID early on the pre-season around November-December, so it was a bit disjointed, and it took me a while to get back to full training — I missed more of the pre-season than I have any previous years, which was annoying, but it made me work harder away from the club.”
While his preseason lacked continuity, it did not stop the hard-nosed midfielder from putting in the hard yards, as he looked to feed off the momentum from his best and fairest season in 2021 to become a more well rounded and damaging player.
“Last year’s best and fairest was a nice reward for a bit of hard work and playing some good games of footy, so I want to stay at that level now and take it up another notch,” he said.
“I want to be one of the best midfielders in the competition and all of those guys like Dustin Martin and Christian Petracca they seem to hit the scoreboard and have really damaging touches.
“I’m not at that position yet and have a long way to go, but that is the level I want to get to — so having more of an impact with my disposals and kicking goals has been a major focus of mine.”
As Simpkin continues to thrive at the elite level, he will always be tied to his roots at Mooroopna and is always thankful for the assistance he receives from the local community.
“The local support is huge, I have got all my family and friends up there (in Mooroopna) who come down every week which is awesome,” he said.
“The Mooroopna Football Club itself always shoots out messages of support, and every time I go back there, they welcome me with open arms, which is just fantastic — the whole community really helps me out and I cannot be more thankful.
“It is also awesome to see a few other boys from Mooroopna in Clayton Oliver and Laitham Vandermeer doing well, too, and having them to train with and lean on is really good.”
With the season now well and truly under way, he said continued growth was his major aim as he looked to take his game to a new level once again in 2022.
“There aren’t too many massive goals for me, the main one is just to improve from last year — I want to keep getting better as an individual and get better as a team,” he said.
“Everyone wants to win Brownlow Medals and make the All Australian team and that is a goal one day I want to get, but I’m still a little bit off that, so hopefully I can just keep improving year in and year out.”
