Delisted Jonathan Simpkin (2011-2012)

[SJ]

2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Geelong

http://psrdrafttracker.afl.com.au/

Rookie Draft Pick 56 ~ Jonathan Simpkin
Geelong Cats

Player statistics
Former club:Geelong
DOB:28/10/1987
Height:181cm
Weight:82kg
Position:Midfielder

Player assessment
The former Sydney Swan has played for Geelong's VFL side for three years as a midfielder/half forward. Got among the goals this season and kicked five majors in four games and six in one. Also represented the VFL in an interstate game against WA this year.

http://psrdrafttracker.afl.com.au/

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56

Simpkin gets another chance. Well done.

Surprised for no defender, but Simpkin deserves it, and has a bit of toe.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56

Pick 71 will be Bathie.

 

[rocker_oz33]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Jonathan Simpkin

played cricket with Jonathan before he was drafted to the swans he clearly had talent as a sportsman.but he was a bit of a smart@rss and didn't take things to serious.he clearly as done the hard yards coming back to geelong and played well in the VFL side.l wish him all the best.

 

[Budda 230]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Jonathan Simpkin

Draft Tracker says he kicked 5 majors in 4 games and 6 in one.

When the hell did this happen??? I remember a couple games of 4 maximum I think??

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Jonathan Simpkin




http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2010/12/08/231251_gfc.html

"I thought that they (Geelong) were a little bit interested because I have been training down there, but they never guaranteed me anything, so I just sat by my computer and waited," Simpkin said of yesterday's draft. "I got a phone call soon after from a few people at the club, so it's been great.


"Now is just the beginning for me, though, because I'll have to work twice as hard to match it with the senior boys. I have had a taste of training with them these past few weeks and even watching them train you know you have a long way to go, so I just can't wait to give it a crack."

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Jonathan Simpkin




http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2010/12/08/231251_gfc.html

"I thought that they (Geelong) were a little bit interested because I have been training down there, but they never guaranteed me anything, so I just sat by my computer and waited," Simpkin said of yesterday's draft. "I got a phone call soon after from a few people at the club, so it's been great.


"Now is just the beginning for me, though, because I'll have to work twice as hard to match it with the senior boys. I have had a taste of training with them these past few weeks and even watching them train you know you have a long way to go, so I just can't wait to give it a crack."

 

[rizzo]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Jonathan Simpkin

Thought we might have taken Raidme with this pick, but happy to take Joff. Hopefully he puts his best foot forward and continues to improve

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Jonathan Simpkin

Raidme was going great guns until he got injured, if he backs his form up again next year (like Joffa did by having a great 2010 after a pretty good 2009) I reckon he'll get rookied next year.

Happy to have Joffa on board, gives us a little bit of speed through the midfield which we don't have heaps of, so hopefully he can improve his game to the point where he can press for senior selection.

 

[loose change]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Jonathan Simpkin

Watched a bit of VFL footy this year. I thought that Simpkin had a great year, but rated Raidme higher. Thought he was very unlucky not to be given a chance on the rookie list. But with the drafting of players like Stephen Clifton from Nth Ballarat, it should give some hope to him!

 

[year of the cat]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Jonathan Simpkin

Not too sure what the thinking is behind this pick to be honest. I would have thought that the chances of Simpkin getting on to the senior list and going on to play a number of games is pretty low. He has a fair list of mids in front of him right now. Perhaps it is no more than to provide motivation to the VFL listed players that they can go further, even as mature-aged players, if they give it a red hot crack.

Good luck to him though.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Jonathan Simpkin

Not too sure what the thinking is behind this pick to be honest. I would have thought that the chances of Simpkin getting on to the senior list and going on to play a number of games is pretty low. He has a fair list of mids in front of him right now. Perhaps it is no more than to provide motivation to the VFL listed players that they can go further, even as mature-aged players, if they give it a red hot crack.

Good luck to him though.

Actually I think the rationale behind the pick is really obvious...has worked hard, had a great 2 years and earned his spot, and as jester said, he gives us something we don't have heaps of on the list, and we could certainly use that quick ball carrying midfielder. Whether he's good enough is another matter, and we'll find out, but the rationale is solid.

I do agree with you there's an element of motivation, and I totally support the policy, because we spend a heck of a lot of money running a vfl team (the money is the reason most clubs don't run their own reserves side) and we want to get every advantage we can from that spend, and one of those is the ability to attract good vfl players (be they overlooked falcons, or older guys) and motivate them to play really well because they know there's a chance to go further. So I fully support the policy regardless of whether Simpkin becomes a success story or not.

In regards to players in front of him, that shouldn't be a factor, most rookies, with the exception of guys picked for specific reasons like Pods, Skipper etc, are a long way back in the queue, so you don't really worry about that, you just pick guys who you think have the talent and application to potentially make it, and obviously Wells thinks Simpkin has that. You're also likely to find that because he's 23 and has previously been in the system, and we have a lot of twiglike young midfielders in the vfl, that if we should get a run of midfield injuries (and I hope like heck we don't) that he's probably not as far back in the queue as all of us think.

 

[SJ]

Re: 2010 Rookie Draft selection no. 56 - Jonathan Simpkin

http://www.geelongcats.com.au/geelongnews/newsarticle/tabid/3933/newsid/120003/default.aspx

THERE has never been any lack of motivation for Jonathan Simpkin to play AFL footy. But just in case he needed an extra little nudge, it came from his younger brother Tom this season.

Now in his sixth season in the AFL system as he toils towards his long-held goal of making it at AFL level, Jonathan had to bow to Tom when the younger sibling made his debut with St Kilda in Round 11 against Collingwood.

“He’s played two games this year and got there before me,” Simpkin said. “It’s just more incentive to work hard and play well and get there myself.”

http://www.geelongcats.com.au/geelongnews/newsarticle/tabid/3933/newsid/120003/default.aspx

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Re: Like a phoenix from the ashes - Geelong Board player review is back!

#46 Jonathan Simpkin

In 2007 Simpkin's AFL career was looking up, he'd just won a premiership in the canberra league and been elevated to the senior list. 12 months later, and another canberra premiership in the bag, delisting hit him with a thud. Simpkin headed back home to Colac and signed for the Bendigo Bank Cats. 2008 and 2009 he was a bit part player, but 2010 was his breakout year. Playing as a line breaking wingman with stints as a dangerous small forward, Simpkin was a regular and kicked a couple of bags to finish with 16 goals for the year, and was selected to play for Victoria against WA in the VFL state game. I watched a fair few games that year live and I was impressed by his contribution, and while I had my doubts about his ability to make it at AFL level, his selection to train with us and then be rookied was no surprise to me given our regular rookie-ing of guys from our VFL list, and was very much deserved based on his form. One of the doubts I had about Simpkin was that after a few years in the system he was still very slight, insofar as he had a reasonably strong core, but chicken arms and legs, if I can call them that, and I didn't think his body was strong enough to stand up in tackles the way some of our good midfielders do and become a truly 'contested' player. I suspect both Simpkin and the coaches are aware of this because watching him play early this year it was clear he had developed physically with our conditioning guys and had a much stronger frame. The second doubt was around whether he had an inside game, this was not to say Joffa was soft, far from it, and 2010 showed he was damaging on the outside, but could he stand up and impact in an inside role? Well due to circumstance, we got our answer. With Djerrkura traded to the Dogs and Hogan missing the early part of the year to seek treatment for depression, Amos was short on inside mids and realised he couldn't throw the kids completely to the wolves in that role? His solution? Put Simpkin in that role, and it was a role he had an impact in from early on.

What he's shown in this role is an ability to read the ball off the ruck taps and win clearances, he's shown more body strength to stand up in tackles than I expected he would have, and when he's got a couple of metres of space his pace allows him to get clear and create inside 50's. What stood out also was that in this role he put a lot of defensive pressure on, both in terms of second efforts at the stoppages, but working hard defensively when we turned the ball over to tackle, I'd say he was top 3 at this in the team every week this year. Amos made note of it at the end of the year and I noticed it too, and it's important for Simpkin as we know working 2 ways is something our coaching staff value quite highly. Simpkin's got a real ability to hit the scoreboard, he wasn't quite as prolific as last year although that was largely due to role, and when later in the season he had some stints in his 'old' pocket role, he did quite well. At times his kicking out of congestion could let him down a little bit although I think this was due to change in role, as when Simpkin is around goals he's damaging by foot and pings them regularly from tight angles. This aspect of his disposal improved as the season went on.

The best thing about Simpkin's 2011 was his consistency, he didn't have a single poor game and as Amos said in his season review, can be relied upon to put the work in week in week out, not get injured, and be relied upon to make a contribution. Along with McLean and Corrigan, he was a standout in leading our young group this year, and in a lot of ways sacrificed his role for the good of the team and did a very, very good job of it.

All of that said, will he make it at AFL level, or just be very good at this level? That's still uncertain, and being 25 next year, it's a make or break year for him. But Simpkin has had a great year, and has proved me wrong up to a point in respect to what I thought his weaknesses were. If he keeps tracking the way he is now, he'll get AFL opportunities early next year, and from there we will see. But well done to Joffa on a great year.

 

[Pure_Ownage]

Simpkin Cats VFL best:
http://www.geelongcats.com.au/geelongnews/newsarticle/tabid/3933/newsid/123476/default.aspx

Jonathan Simpkin has taken out the Cats VFL best & fairest in a tight vote count. Simpkin polled 464 votes to narrowly win the award from Andrew McLean (460) and Mark Corrigan (449).

Going into the final round McLean led by five votes. Simpkin polled 32 in the final match of the year to McLean’s 23 votes and Corrigan polled 18.
McLean and Simpkin were the only two players to play every match in 2011. Corrigan missed one match in Round 16.

http://www.geelongcats.com.au/geelongnews/newsarticle/tabid/3933/newsid/123476/default.aspx