By sports editor Russell Bennett
What’s navy blue with red and black beginnings? Emerald favourite son, Kade Simpson.
This Saturday, shortly before 1.45pm at the MCG, he’ll run out for his 300th AFL game. And it seems like he still can’t quite believe it.
He’ll become just the fifth Carlton player to reach the milestone at VFL/AFL level, with the other four all legends of the game – Craig Bradley, Bruce Doull, John Nicholls, and Stephen Silvagni.
But Simpson, now 34, sits right among them in regards to the esteem he’s held at the Carlton footy club – a long way removed from his days running out in the red and black of the Emerald junior footy club.
On the weekend, he was back at Emerald – this time at Chandler Reserve – to reminisce about the good old days alongside another couple of blues, Cam O’Shea and Matthew Lobbe, who also grew up and started their footy journeys with Emerald.
Throughout this week, Simpson is getting the plaudits he so rightly deserves – even if they clearly don’t sit all that well with him.
“He inspires others,” current Carlton coach Brendon Bolton said over a montage before Simpson was introduced as a guest on Fox Footy’s ‘On The Couch’ on Monday night.
“The players love Simmo, and we love him.”
Garry Lyon followed by saying Simpson is as well respected and universally admired as anyone across the competition.
Not bad for someone who, by his own admission, had a slow start to life at AFL level.
Simpson was drafted with pick 45 in the 2002 National Draft. He was Carlton’s first pick that year after the club was sanctioned due to salary cap infringements.
Slightly-built, he played just two minutes in his second AFL game and only around 50 total minutes over his first three.
He admits that, at the time, his self-belief took a hit.
“In that first year I didn’t get a lot of time on the ground,” Simpson said on Saturday at an Emerald Football Club luncheon in his honour.
“They didn’t rotate like they do these days, so in my second game I played two minutes and spent the rest of the game on the bench.
“In my second year I played three more games but finished the year with a broken hand and missed the last couple of months of the season.
“But once I got that self-belief that I belonged in the senior side, that went a long way to my form picking up and Denis (Pagan) giving me the confidence to just go out there and play my style of football.
“He always wanted me to take the game on, and he’d tell me if I got caught holding the ball he didn’t care – he wanted me to keep doing it.”
Simpson admits Pagan was hard on his players, but says he learned a lot about hard work while playing under him.
After nailing down a regular spot in the Blues’ senior side, Simpson went on to play 158 consecutive games at the level – from Round 15 2005 to Round 12 2012.
He says his ability to play through injuries, and perform at a high level, was also something he learned under Pagan.
Simpson was also guided by two other bonafide coaching legends in Kevin Sheedy and Mick Malthouse as part of two International Rules series, and in 2013 won the John Nicholls Medal as Carlton’s best and fairest.
And now, on the eve of his 300th game – and having played on one-year contracts for quite some time – Simpson is clearly as in love with footy as he was in his days with the Emerald juniors.
Tough, skilful, and with an elite footy brain, he’s not done yet.
O’Shea and Lobbe were there on Saturday at Emerald to help celebrate Simpson’s achievement. The esteem they hold him in his obvious – despite the cheek that comes along with it.
“He’s the oldest and grumpiest at the club,” Lobbe said of Simpson.
“He’s a bit of a dad around the playing group, so that’s pretty entertaining!”
Simpson would have been happy to travel anywhere in Australia to realise his AFL dream, and Lobbe and O’Shea had to do exactly that at Port Adelaide before both finding their way to Carlton.
But all three just loved being back where it all started on Saturday – back at Emerald.
This week, Simpson becomes just the second player from what is now the AFL Yarra Ranges competition to play 300 VFL/AFL games. The other? Yarra Junction’s ‘Captain Blood’, Jack Dyer.
