Player Watch #12: Jy Simpkin [Part II] - staying at North in 2026 + won't feature in leadership group as Larkey set to be named captain

[DuckYeah]

Goes to * we pay 50% of his Salary for their first pick? I wonder if that would be an option. Is it a fair value trade?

 

[Better Loosen Up]

Started dating a Vegan and now it's all about him. Color me surprised.

 

[Merlin007]

"He knows it'll be a challenge for him to find a new home, given the price, given the contract, given the role, but he has wanted to have a look, regardless" - Twomey on Jy

Damaging your own personal brand and that of the club for the sake of 'having a look' doesn't seem like a particularly strategic approach.

 

[Gasometer]

Keep checking my Nmfc Inbox for updates

Nothing

 

[Themanbun]

Started dating a Vegan and now it's all about him. Color me surprised.

Pretty shithouse to try and blame his partner for this. Be better.

 

[Gasometer]

Damaging your own personal brand and that of the club for the sake of 'having a look' doesn't seem like a particularly strategic approach.

“Due diligence” in the Scotts World

 

[Shagga is all Class]

So, the captain wants to mess with the development of younger mids with a possibly higher ceiling.

Whilst it ain’t easy getting 22 touches a game in the positions he is playing, the coach thinks it is best for the team.

Jy basically wants Jy first and at best he will get an extra 4.8 touches a game on career stats which may be ineffective.

 

[Rod Stroker]

Whats this about merrit? He was kicking a footy around whilst AFLW was training? Thats a bad thing? What he said was a scheduled session? Training in the post season? Showing commitment to his career?

I dont like the campaigner but what did he do wrong?

I'm talking about Jy and him boasting to oppo players on the field about this salary

 

[Uncle_Leo]

Started dating a Vegan and now it's all about him. Color me surprised.

Hmm, its almost like history repeating.

 

[Harveysuth]

If he was unhappy about Parker taking his mid minutes he probably lost his mind seeing we were offering Windhager 800k

 

[tales129]

Limited versatility of younger mids hey?

Imagine being drafted as a half forward flanker, then you whinge about blokes who get played in their natural position, because you want to play there when your 15kg too light and have shown that you can’t.

Glasshouses hey

 

[Flagroos24]

I'm talking about Jy and him boasting to oppo players on the field about this salary

Seems like it's a load of BS, Kane only saying it because Mumma's boy would have passed it on to him. Remember he went hard at Simpkin for fighting JHF earlier in the year

 

[Psicosis]

"He knows it'll be a challenge for him to find a new home, given the price, given the contract, given the role, but he has wanted to have a look, regardless" - Twomey on Jy

Aka I’ve been advised otherwise, but I prefer not to listen.

After he’s got no suitors we should ask if we can revise his dollars to reflect his role & behaviour.

 

[Uncle_Leo]

From the outside there seems to be a major disconnect between Clarkson and his assistant coaches and captain.

At the start of the season Jy plays in the all stars game. Our forward coach Xavier Clark coaches the team, plays Jy full time mid and he is BOG. He comes back to North and is somehow pushed out of the midfield by Phillips, Powell and Parker. Who made this genius call? Clearly Jy was unhappy about it. Anyway, those three sucked and couldn't keep up in transition. Phillips couldn't even get through a game. Despite this, we don't turn to our captain who won Syds in his last two full seasons in the midfield. At the end of season our midfield coach steps away to pursue other opportunities, whatever that means.

To me, it looks like Clarko being a stubborn old fool and Jy and Patch being sick of it.

What were the other options to play in the midfield in that game? Talk about jumping to conclusions

How many games did we win with him in those two full seasons in the midfield?

 

[HBFlanker]

lol

It would be like finding your wife on dating apps looking for better options and then coming back when she realised nobody was interested.

You would need to have no self-respect to take her back.

It is different to an allegedly drug addled player that wasn't the captain looking around. Come back to what, a laughing stock? It would be a complete circus if he was let back in.

We don't know the situation.

It hasn't blown up like those peanuts up the road. He's looking around, like heaps of players do, because he is worried about getting a game. Merrett is leaving because the club is rubbish.

I have no issue at all with Jy coming back

 

[Better Loosen Up]

Hmm, its almost like history repeating.

Definitely feel like we've been here before...

 

[Heaps of fun]

Limited versatility of younger mids hey?

Imagine being drafted as a half forward flanker, then you whinge about blokes who get played in their natural position, because you want to play there when your 15kg too light and have shown that you can’t.

Glasshouses hey

That narrative doesn't hold up when you look at what actually happened with our centre bounce attendances this year and last year.

2024 attendances:
LDU 82%
Wardlaw 66%
Simpkin 53%
Powell 50%
Sheezel 31%

2025 attendances:
LDU 77% -5%
Luke Parker 63%
George Wardlaw 56% -10%
Tom Powell 47% -3%
Harry Sheezel 38% +7%
Jy Simpkin 34% -19%

So Simpkin didn't lose his centre bounce attendances to younger less versatile mids. He lost them to the experienced and versatile Luke Parker. Harry Sheezel might have also benefited. All of the so called less versatile players worked on their versatility this year with Wardlaw and LDU spending time forward and Powell spending time on the wing and at half forward.

 

[perplexed]

What were the other options to play in the midfield in that game? Talk about jumping to conclusions

How many games did we win with him in those two full seasons in the midfield?

We start the season with a needlessly weak and disorganised midfield. At the end of the year the midfield coach walks. The captain walks because he wants more midfield time. Clearly stuff has gone down at the club that we don't know about. But yeah, ****ing Jy and such.

 

[Uncle_Leo]

We start the season with a needlessly weak and disorganised midfield. At the end of the year the midfield coach walks. The captain walks because he wants more midfield time. Clearly stuff has gone down at the club that we don't know about. But yeah, ****ing Jy and such.

So we offered Patch a contract and he knocked it back?

 

[perplexed]

So we offered Patch a contract and he knocked it back?

No idea, it was all rather vague.

 

[Frank Thring]

This is an opportunity for the club to make a stand and trade him and then dig up Mantello to advise the players if anyone else wants to **** off to put their hand up.

 

[kanga kanga kanga]

i can already see him being a absolute gun at another club

 

[SpiderBurton22]

Apparently he's taken North off his socials.

View attachment 2428318

Yet has a photo of himself in North Melbourne gear.

 

[King Corey]

Here's your reason for coming to Bigfooty for the latest updates. So far wrong it screams out......

nuffy.

Finally this call is on point.

 

[King Corey]

I'm more annoyed at him today.

Something not mentioned is that football works in longer cycles. Clubs plan for 3-5 year+ phases and players deemed critical to those plans are shown faith with longer deals. In turn they're expected to honour them.

Additionally the bloke accepted the role of captain which is supposed to be about buying into the club and sacrificing your individual honours for the collective betterment of the team.

Guys like Simpson, Petrie, Archer, Rawlings, Stevens, Boomer, Carey et al all accepted whatever onfield role they were handed as senior players understanding they are part of a team.

This is a shit look for our club, not to us as rusted ons but to the wider audience and the market. The guy who is meant to be the #1 spruiker and driver of club values on the playing list going and "testing the market" with 4 years left on a deal.

I've always stood up for the guy but as captain pulling this trick I now rate him as a cancer. Cut him out of the club for the best possible trade return and onwards and upwards.