When I first arrived at the club I didn’t know too many Kangaroos players. Being from Perth, the focus was right on West Coast and Fremantle.
But the way he’d go about his footy caught my eye pretty quickly.
He seemed like a player who was a bit before his time. With his tricks and skills – little acts he’s done throughout his whole career now – he had some magic about him. They were quite freakish actually.
It’s hard to explain because you don’t notice them unless you’re right there next to him. Blink and you could miss it. I’ve also seen it in games when he’s getting the ball out to me from in and under packs.
Simmo believes in a lot of players as well. He brings the best out of them and puts a lot of time into them. They want to give him double in return.
He told me to back myself and lift a bit more. He would look me in the eyes and demand it out of me. Boomer and those guys do the same thing but he was probably the first one to say to me, ‘Hey, you’ve got to really step up here and help the team out. If you want to, it’s up to you’.
I reckon it’s a pretty hard thing to do, to get yourself into a position like that and make your players really play for you. He’s done that to a tee and it looks like a lot of it comes naturally for him.
He was always organising different things here and there to get the boys up. Now he’s taken a step back to let the leadership group take control.
I’ve always looked up to Simmo’s morals and values. He holds them extremely high and those standards flow on to his family.
There are a lot of times when things need to be said – if something’s right or wrong – and he’s one of the first blokes to actually do that.
The way he goes about his life and treats people with respect is probably what I’ve learnt most from him. If I’m going to take anything away from what he’s taught me, it’s that – more than footy.
He can relate to the kids and the older guys and is very passionate about the club. It was even more evident when he was skipper and we tried to back him up as best we could.
Stepping down was probably the right move for him to concentrate on his footy in his last couple of years.
Laids said around that time that Simmo should be recognised for leading the side through a period where it was pretty tough off the field.
I agree. He did the hard yards, got the club back on track and has handed it over to Boomer with us in a better position.
But he’s someone who doesn’t like the accolades he gets. I remember Glenn Archer got a fair bit of attention when he broke our games record and he was pretty humbled by it all.
We spoke about Simmo the other day as a group. Everyone had the chance to talk about what he meant to them and his impact on them in their time at the club. There was some really good stuff.
Anyone would be embarrassed when sitting in a room and hearing things said about them. I reckon Simmo was even a bit surprised by what the boys were coming up with.
As a complete package, he’s one of the best I’ve played with.
I’d love for him to play on next year. He’s a very valuable player and person – a guy everyone would love to have at their club. He’s playing some terrific footy at the moment so I can’t see why he can’t continue.
Who knows? He might see the chance to create a place for another kid, especially if it means the club will benefit. That’s the way a lot of players here are – how they’re bred.
And with his knowledge of the game and the way he analyses it, he could pretty much go into a coaching job straight away.
But for everything I see in Simmo, the coaching staff and club have obviously noticed it too – which is why he’s preparing for his 300th game.
The views in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of the club.
