IT TOOK all of Xavier Clarke's self-control not to shed tears when discussing Jy Simpkin's achievements as part of the Indigenous All Stars squad.

The pair work together at North Melbourne, where Simpkin is the captain, and Clarke is an assistant coach, but it was donning their All Stars kit after winning Saturday's exhibition match that they came together.

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"I'm trying not to cry," Clarke said.

"I'm proud of him. He's a great leader of our football club at North Melbourne, he's been through a lot himself and even just personally over the last couple of months. But for him to be able to play in this game, and come out and do what he's done, I'm just more proud of him, and just pumped for him to be able to represent his family."

Simpkin was awarded the Polly Farmer medal for a best on ground performance that included a game-high 30 disposals, and 10 clearances.

It was also an emotional one for the Roo, who dedicated his third quarter goal to his Pop, who passed away late last year.

"I can't remember enjoying football that much… it was super exciting, super fun. Even sitting on the benches, watching back, watching the boys run, carry, move the footy was awesome," Simpkin said.

His was a performance of a player reborn, a promising sign for the Roos as the 2025 premiership season bears down.

"I've probably had a couple of down years the last two years personally, but I've put myself in a good spot over the off-season, pre-season, to come out and have a good season. I think today I showed that I can play some good footy and hopefully I can continue that going forward."

It's something that Clarke is expecting to come to fruition once the pair land back at Arden Street.

"You talk about setting up the season, I've got no doubt that he's done that, and I'll be surprised if that doesn't transfer over to North Melbourne," Clarke said.

"It's just ironic that obviously I'm at North and he's our North captain, we're both sitting here together."

For Clarke, it was another impressive entry on his CV as he treads the path to an eventual AFL head coaching position.

"I think it's just an opportunity to continue to grow. We all want to grow, and I'm just grateful for the opportunity to be able to coach the team," Clarke said.

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"It's very unique, there's not doubt about that, but it's bigger than the game too… I'll learn a lot from this, there's no doubt about myself, my messaging and how do I handle it? And I'll get feedback, we've had some great people around.

"I want to acknowledge my coaches, an all Indigenous coaching staff with Chance Bateman, Jarrod Lienert, Jason Williams, Roger Hayden. They're on a good journey too."

Fremantle head coach Justin Longmuir was more introspective after the 43-point defeat, admitting that some elements of the game plan were kept in his pocket given the match being played at a tier one venue. Because of the venue choice – at which 37,865 people filled the stands – extra vision is available to opposition coaches than is typically accessible from a preseason match.

"We played pretty vanilla," Longmuir said.

"It's interesting because all the other teams will get the vision and be able to watch it behind the goal, so we tried to keep it pretty vanilla, and we'll work on bits and pieces next week."

Forward Sam Switkowski was ruled out of the game in the first quarter after a head knock, something the club will monitor in the coming weeks, and defender Brandon Walker broke his nose in a tackle attempt.

"This time of year, you don't take any risks," Longmuir said.

"We know about (head) injuries, and sometimes they can show up differently in a couple of days or a week."

Polly Farmer Medal voting

The following votes were allocated for the Polly Farmer Medal:
11 - Jy Simpkin - 3332
8 - Jason Horne-Francis - 1223
3 - Bobby Hill - 21
1 - Brad Hill - 1
1 - Lawson Humphries - 1

Judges voting (3, 2, 1):
Eddie Betts (Fox Sports) - Jy Simpkin, Bobby Hill, Jason Horne-Francis
Shaun Burgoyne (Fox Sports) - Jy Simpkin, Jason Horne-Francis, Lawson Humphries
Chris Johnson (National Indigenous Radio Services) - Jy Simpkin, Jason Horne-Francis, Brad Hill
Megan Waters (AFL.com.au) - Jason Horne-Francis, Jy Simpkin, Bobby Hill