Jy Simpkin is captain of North Melbourne, a club that has spent a long time in the cellar of the AFL and did not show many signs last week of dragging itself into the light of premiership relevance. His personal contribution as a forward-turned-inside-midfielder has been exemplary, but will he be there the next time the Kangaroos bound into finals? Perhaps he is a transitional leader, who may not get a Shane Crawford style silverware-tinged fairytale ending to a productive career. Not everyone is that lucky, and Simpkin's task is gargantuan.
Jy Simpkin is captain of North Melbourne, a club that has spent a long time in the cellar of the AFL and did not show many signs last week of dragging itself into the light of premiership relevance. His personal contribution as a forward-turned-inside-midfielder has been exemplary, but will he be there the next time the Kangaroos bound into finals? Perhaps he is a transitional leader, who may not get a Shane Crawford style silverware-tinged fairytale ending to a productive career. Not everyone is that lucky, and Simpkin's task is gargantuan.
Jy Simpkin has often started in a forward pocket at centre bounces for North Melbourne in recent years, but as time has gone on his contributions up the ground are what have interested fantasy coaches. Standing in the shadow of all-time great Brent Harvey, Simpkin is nowhere near those levels yet but his graph is definitely on the way up. He is a justifiable start in draft leagues, albeit not consistent enough for use in salary cap competitions as his floor can be too low when the Roos aren't up.
Munchkin or pumpkin?
Picked for every game in 2018 despite poor returns, Jy Simpkin was finally dropped for round 6 last season and responded with a jump in output of around 15 points to sit five points into startable territory, though he tailed off again towards the end of the year. His scores were 19 points higher in wins, with six of his eight scores above the baseline coming in team victories. Simpkin's role is to start deep forward with a licence to roam when needs be, similar to Hayden Ballantyne. This can lead to some low scores when he is isolated in spots where the footy ain't, particularly when the coaches want the team to maintain its shape while it's getting belted in the guts. At this point he's a spot play for home games on the fast Docklands track, with some hopeful upside beyond that.
Simply too little from Jy
Despite a collision with a motorcycle last February, Jy Simpkin suited up for all 22 senior games last season, booting 12.7 without ever getting more than one in a match. He reached 20 disposals three times before the bye and only once after, including a six-week stretch where his scoreboard contribution was a solitary behind. The best part about Simpkin's 2018 that can be said is that the North match committee showed total faith in him, looking beyond the score column to his four tackles per game, most of which came in the front half. The Kangaroos will have to look elsewhere for the next Brent Harvey or Lindsay Thomas, and you should look beyond him as well.
Jy alive to front on footy
As with just about all small forwards, the first year at senior level for Jy Simpkin produced not much in the way of statistics, held back further by the general lack of midfield supply at the Roos. Simpkin was compared in his junior days with Luke Breust, though he didn't start his career quite as well. Natural progression should improve his numbers by some, but not enough to get him into startable range in year two.
