List Mgmt. Simpson Delisted

[beetz]

We are set with ruckmen but Brodie Grundy goes all right.

He does but doubt he was on the radar given Freo ruck stocks. Josh Simpson falling to 12 was a god send. Hindsight will tell you that there was a very good reason why he did.

 

[Frank J Moose]

We are set with ruckmen but Brodie Grundy goes all right.

Grundy lost his spot to former NSW scholarship player Jarrod Witts for most of the season. Overhyped Collingwood youngster, Grundy has a long way to go to make it as an AFL ruckman.

 

[beetz]

Grundy lost his spot to former NSW scholarship player Jarrod Witts for most of the season. Overhyped Collingwood youngster, Grundy has a long way to go to make it as an AFL ruckman.

Like all rookie ruckman. They usually take years to come on.

 

[yoong]

Can't say it's totally unexpected, but still disappointing news.
Hope he gets another chance at it down the road.

 

[freoextra]

If we don't rookie him, I hope the "levels of support and assistance into 2015" involve us giving him another shot in 12 months time

Nice thought, all up to him now though.

 

[Thistle]

Such a waste and a shame. Brother played colts with him and said he is the best kick he has ever seen and can do it with both feet too. Was apparently meant to go top 5 but the birth of his first child scared a lot of the interstate clubs off. There's more to life than footy and I hope he sorts out whatever has been plaguing him.

 

[Bucking Bronco]

If he wasn't able to carve a footy career out for himself with the massive support and assistance of an AFL club then there's no way he's going to be able to do it independently next year, or in future years. If he doesn't get rookied this year then this will be the last we hear of him in a footballing sense.

He was worth the risk at pick 17 though, hopefully Mason Shaw doesn't end up developing into the key-forward that we are crying out for as he is the other guy that we were considering at pick 17.

 

[Silent Alarm]

And if that didn't this will.



Good luck Josh. You've achieved a lot in playing at the AFL level and 99% of people on this board have not achieved that (and I'm not claiming to be the 1%). "Gatorade in the eyes. It stings but, yeah, it's good".

You know the other thing he said there? As long as his kids are happy, he is. And those guys in the bush, with no infotainment on TV, no mortgages, no material and fabricated shit to worry about, they care about the right stuff. They're interested in their culture, their land, and their families – not drink cards at nightclubs, chicks knowing their names, and higher salaries. I know he's already an elder in his community and I hope his life in Yalgoo ends up being the one he enjoys living most. It doesn't matter if you play AFL footy, prance around all over the world in a band, or build houses no one but their owner's know about, the only thing in life that matters is enjoying yourself – if he does that, and I think he's in a better position than most delisted 20-year olds, he's done alright.

I still don't think this notion of ticking off boxes was ever appropriate for a person like Josh Simpson. He struggled to adapt for the same reasons he couldn't fulfil requirements and do what the club asked. He was always going to find rigid rules and absolute lines hard to follow and listen to and stick by, so I'm a little frustrated they did that. But hey, it's in the past now and everyone involved can go off and start something new.

As people have said, he slipped for the reasons that got him delisted. The risk wasn't worth it in the end, but hey, I suppose the club stuck fat and tried their luck, and maybe it's better he had two years at a club like Freo than ten weeks somewhere else.

People will continue to ignorantly lament the decision and say Simpson was lazy or undeserving of his privilege, but regardless of your stance and tolerance for vast cultural differences, Josh Simpson got to feel some pretty cool things: a home crowd get around him, Pav's approval, a player issue Fremantle jumper with his own number on the back, and that piss-poor song reverberating in his ears and Gatorade stinging in his eyes

 

[Stronzo]

Those with racially based views, please leave them in your tiny skulls.

 

[E Shed]

Devoed

 

[JamFrank]

real shame. he looked a beaut.

 

[Fyfetheknife]

Shit.

 

[Apenesslike]

Hopefully they are making a point to the kid that he holds little to no value on the open market, and are simply delisting the required number to re-pick him up in the third round or on the rookie list.

Chances of anyone else grabbing him depends whether the club has any intent to re-list, and if that information has been leaked.

 

[apuchar]

I don't know. It is a pretty good draft for two rounds and there have been some interesting players delisted.

 

[Righteo]

rookiedraftrookiedraftrookiedraft pls pls pls

 

[theGav56]

He is exactly what we need, and I really hope we rookie him. He is a good fit for us. Maybe I am dreaming, but I hope this has all been fully discussed with him, and he is destined for our rookie list. Without knowing anything on the inside, we are a good fit for him too.

 

[Swan Districts Kid]

I can see us picking him up, I wouldn't expect us to telegraph that fact to the rest of the comp though.

There's no need to worry about telegraphing - no interstate club would touch him with a 10 ft barge pole. As for the Eagles - well he's not exactly David Wirrapanda is he?

 

[Carnthedockers]

I was reliably informed that our recruiters were set to pick Grundy ahead of Simpson, and RTB overruled.

 

[Purpletown]

Good luck for the future Josh. May your life post AFL be a happy one.

Unfortunately another player is chewed up by the system that can be harsh on those who don't fit in.

Time for club, Simpson and us fans to move on as the decision to delist has been made. I had the feeling it was with reluctance the club went this way but that is only a gut feel and nothing else.

 

[andrew99]

He does but doubt he was on the radar given Freo ruck stocks. Josh Simpson falling to 12 was a god send. Hindsight will tell you that there was a very good reason why he did.

Now that Simpson has been delisted how has his acquisition been a god-send? We just wasted yet another first round draft pick.

Yes the recruiters took a risk, and yes perhaps they should be lauded for doing so, however in the end the drafting of Simpson has proven to be a failure. Somebody has to take the blame, you don't get rewarded for failure no matter how clever or fortunate the decision seemed when it was made. Outcomes are everything in football.

 

[Steinfreo]

What a shame. Some really scummy characters thrive in the AFL but it couldn't cater to a young father from the bush. Really lame day.

 

[andrew99]

Good luck for the future Josh. May your life post AFL be a happy one.

Unfortunately another player is chewed up by the system that can be harsh on those who don't fit in.

Time for club, Simpson and us fans to move on as the decision to delist has been made. I had the feeling it was with reluctance the club went this way but that is only a gut feel and nothing else.

We could have accommodated him. All this talk emanating from the club about Josh not "fitting in with the system"/"failing to meet team standards" is just babble. You can't condemn an aboriginal kid based on the standards applied to other players. Josh needed his own system and one that was auspicious to his development was not provided. Result: we lose, Josh loses. All because we are too inflexible culture wise.

 

[jerms]

We could have accommodated him. All this talk emanating from the club about Josh not "fitting in with the system"/"failing to meet team standards" is just babble. You can't condemn an aboriginal kid based on the standards applied to other players. Josh needed his own system and one that was auspicious to his development was not provided. Result: we lose, Josh loses. All because we are too inflexible culture wise.

Much as I'm upset we couldn't find a way to help him thrive, it's a bit rough to imply the club didn't try...

 

[couldhavebeen]

Something must have happened for the Club to delist him because all the info on him was that he was coming back for a full preseason .
I'm gutted for the kid .

I'm hoping that the Club will re rookie him and that they have made their statement to scare off anyone else from trying to get him cheap .
The kid has so much talent to play footy and it will break my heart if we never see him play AFL for Fremantle again .

 

[andrew99]

What a shame. Some really scummy characters thrive in the AFL but it couldn't cater to a young father from the bush. Really lame day.

Exactly, as Malthouse showed in '10, it's not about characters or culture or systems or individuals or unity, even a bunch of morally corrupt bogans in a team riddled with internal conflict can be made into a premiership force. It's about making it work without all these whimsical & idealistic notions of what AFL players and a team's culture should be like. If this means turning a blind eye to bad behaviour so be it. (also see WC 05/06)

I don't care what Josh did or did not do, he was a talented player who should still be on our list.