This Saturday Kade Simpson will notch up his 50th game for Carlton when they take on Collingwood at the MCG. Simpson was picked up by the Blues in the 2002 National Draft. He was claimed with Carlton’s first pick at number 45. The Blues had famously been suspended from the early rounds of the 2002 and 2003 National Drafts due to salary cap breaches.

Simpson played his junior footy at Emerald in the Yarra Valley Mountain District League where he had a rapid rise to prominence which earned him a call up to the Eastern Ranges TAC Under-18 team. Such was his form at Eastern in 2002, that he was picked in the VIC-Metro squad to play in the Under-18 Championships. After a successful tournament he then gained Under-18 All-Australian selection.

At the Blues his rise wasn’t quite so rapid, in fact, with very limited game time, he didn’t manage a possession in his first three senior games, his only games for the 2003 season. Again in 2004 he managed only three senior games but suffered a broken hand which ended his season prematurely. It was in 2005, after solid form at the Northern Bullants during the previous seasons, that he began to cement his place in the senior team where he played a total of 15 games for the year, including the last eight of the season.

However, 2006 was the year that ‘Simmo’ really established himself in the competition. He played in all of Carlton’s 22 matches and his dashing runs and penetrating left foot kicks warmed Navy Blue hearts in an otherwise bleak winter. His tenacity, dash and his willingness to run and carry the ball really became a standout feature and one of the highlights of Carlton’s 2006 season. As a true reflection of the esteem he is held in at the Blues, in June he was named as part of the leadership group, and his consistent form was confirmed with a fourth place finish in the Club Best and Fairest. To cap off the season Simmo was given the ultimate honour of being called up to the Australian team to play in the International Rules series against Ireland.

On Saturday Simpson will run out in his number 6 guernsey for the 50th time and he is quickly becoming one of the elder statesmen of a very young Blues outfit. Let’s hope we see a number of his signature dashes down the wing on Saturday… and for many more years to come.