Kade Simpson

Australian rules footballer, born 1984

Australian rules footballer
Kade Simpson
Simpson playing for Carlton in April 2018
Personal information
Full name Kade Simpson
Date of birth (1984-05-05) 5 May 1984 (age 39)
Original team(s) Emerald (Vic)/Eastern Ranges
Draft No. 45, 2002 National Draft, Carlton
Height 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight 75 kg (165 lb)
Position(s) Half-back flank / Wing
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
2003–2020 Carlton 342 (138)
International team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2006–2020 Australia 8 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2020.
2 State and international statistics correct as of 2017.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

Kade Simpson (born 5 May 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who played his entire career with the Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played 342 games across 18 seasons from 2003 to 2020. He holds the VFL/AFL record for playing in the most losses of any player, with 215.

Simpson predominantly played as a half-back flanker, while also spending time as a midfielder.[1][2]

AFL career

Early career (2002-2005)

Simpson was drafted in the fourth round of the 2002 AFL Draft. He was Carlton's first pick in that year's draft, after the club was stripped of its higher selections as punishment for salary cap infringements. Carlton were fortunate to have picked Simpson given his skills were immediately apparent, but he did not have enough weight to play regular seniors in his first two seasons; even now, his weight is a relatively light 79 kg. He played primarily for Carlton's VFL-affiliate, the Northern Bullants, in his first two years, and on his few selections in the Carlton senior team, received so little ground time that he did not have a disposal in his first three games.

Simpson first broke into the senior team as a regular in the latter half of 2005. Still eligible for the AFL Rising Star in his third season on the list, Simpson was nominated in Round 18. He played nine of the last 10 games of the season, missing one game through injury, and his pace and skill began to attract attention.

Leadership Group and John Nicholls Medal (2006-2018)

Simpson took a big step up in the 2006 season, being elevated to the leadership group and running 4th in the best and fairest. He played every game, mainly as a running link-man from half-back. He finished in the top 5 in the AFL for running bounces, which was typical of his rebound play, averaged 19 disposals with a maximum of 30, and eleven goals. This style of running play prompted Kevin Sheedy to select Simpson for the Australian International Rules team for the 2006 tour of Ireland, and Mick Malthouse to do likewise for in 2008, a series in which he won the Jim Stynes Medal.

By 2007, Simpson had emerged as one of the leaders of the club. He captained the Blues between Rounds 14 and 19 during 2007, in the absence of regular captain and vice-captain Lance Whitnall and Nick Stevens, and has been vice-captain to Chris Judd since Stevens' retirement.

In 2010, Kade Simpson had arguably his best season for the Carlton Football Club, polling nine Brownlow votes (Second for Carlton, behind medal-winner Chris Judd). The most noticeable feature of his performances during the season was his tackling ability, because on 12 occasions he laid five or more tackles.

Simpson played 158 consecutive games from Round 15, 2005, until Round 15, 2012, before missing a match with a broken jaw.[3] He was, at the time, considered the club record holder for most consecutive games,[4] but in December 2012, the AFL amended the interpretation of this record such that Bruce Doull, who missed two club games during his streak due to playing in interstate matches on the same day, assumed the club record with 162 consecutive games.[5]

In the 2013 season, Simpson won the John Nicholls medal, Carltons best and fairest award. Kade had 533 disposals that season, after an outstanding year playing at half-back flank position under new coach Mick Malthouse.

In the 2016 season, Simpson had an outstanding year averaging 27.2 disposals per game. He was nominated in the All Australian squad of 40 but was not named in the final 22. He finished second in Carlton's best and fairest award behind defender Sam Docherty.

300 gamer (2018-2020)

On 30 June 2018 Simpson became the fifth Carlton player to reach the 300 game milestone.[6]

In 2019, Simpson signed a one-year contract extension to play on in 2020. With the retirement of Daniel Wells at the end of the 2019 season,[7] Simpson became the last remaining survivor from the 2002 AFL draft.[8] He also decided to step down from the club's leadership group that year.[9]

He retired at the end of the 2020 season, finishing with 342 senior games – the third most of any Carlton player in the club's history.[10]

Coaching career

Simpson was appointed assistant coach of Carlton's AFLW team in November 2020.[11]

Statistics

Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season[12]
Legend
  G  
 Goals
  K  
 Kicks
  D  
 Disposals 
  T  
 Tackles
  B  
 Behinds 
  H  
 Handballs 
  M  
 Marks
Season Team No. Games Totals Averages (per game) Votes
G B K H D M T G B K H D M T
2003 Carlton 6 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 1.0 0
2004 Carlton 6 3 1 1 7 5 12 4 5 0.3 0.3 2.3 1.7 4.0 1.3 1.7 0
2005 Carlton 6 15 9 10 118 56 174 57 26 0.6 0.7 7.9 3.7 11.6 3.8 1.7 0
2006 Carlton 6 22 11 8 296 124 420 147 53 0.5 0.4 13.5 5.6 19.1 6.7 2.4 2
2007 Carlton 6 22 17 12 281 130 411 103 64 0.8 0.5 12.8 5.9 18.7 4.7 2.9 3
2008 Carlton 6 22 9 14 242 170 412 137 61 0.4 0.6 11.0 7.7 18.7 6.2 2.8 0
2009 Carlton 6 23 15 12 287 202 489 129 82 0.7 0.5 12.5 8.8 21.3 5.6 3.6 5
2010 Carlton 6 23 17 19 328 210 538 142 93 0.7 0.8 14.3 9.1 23.4 6.2 4.0 9
2011 Carlton 6 24 17 18 361 175 536 147 79 0.7 0.8 15.0 7.3 22.3 6.1 3.3 5
2012 Carlton 6 19 15 13 267 159 426 106 62 0.8 0.7 14.1 8.4 22.4 5.6 3.3 6
2013 Carlton 6 24 6 9 350 183 533 140 51 0.3 0.4 14.6 7.6 22.2 5.8 2.1 9
2014 Carlton 6 22 4 6 349 171 520 139 52 0.2 0.3 15.9 7.8 23.6 6.3 2.4 8
2015 Carlton 6 20 3 1 285 175 460 118 42 0.2 0.1 14.3 8.8 23.0 5.9 2.1 1
2016 Carlton 6 22 3 0 383 214 597 152 54 0.1 0.0 17.4 9.7 27.1 6.9 2.5 3
2017 Carlton 6 22 4 3 377 152 529 162 59 0.2 0.1 17.1 6.9 24.0 7.4 2.7 8
2018 Carlton 6 21 4 0 369 180 549 115 42 0.2 0.0 17.6 8.6 26.1 5.5 2.0 6
2019 Carlton 6 18 3 0 265 101 366 85 46 0.2 0.0 14.7 5.6 20.3 4.7 2.6 2
2020[a] Carlton 6 17 1 0 201 63 264 66 19 0.1 0.0 11.8 3.7 15.5 3.9 1.1 0
Career 342 139 126 4766 2470 7236 1949 893 0.4 0.4 13.9 7.2 21.2 5.7 2.6 67

Notes

  1. ^ The 2020 season was played with 17 home-and-away matches per team (down from 22) and 16-minute quarters with time on (down from 20-minute quarters with time on) due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Honours and achievements

Team

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Kade Simpson | AFL". carltonfc.com.au. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  2. ^ "More than a beard with boots". www.heraldsun.com.au. 13 September 2013. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Simmo's run comes to an end". Carlton Football Club. 7 July 2012. Archived from the original on 5 November 2012. Retrieved 8 July 2012.
  4. ^ "Five players into the squad". Carlton Football Club. 8 September 2011. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
  5. ^ de Bolfo, Tony (7 December 2012). "Bruce still the boss". Carlton Football Club. Retrieved 10 December 2012.[permanent dead link]
  6. ^ De Bolfo, Tony. "300-gamers come home for Simpson". www.carltonfc.com.au. Carlton Media. Retrieved 2 July 2018.
  7. ^ "West Aussie Daniel Wells announces retirement ahead of Collingwood preliminary final". The West Australian. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  8. ^ "Kade Simpson re-signs for 18th season with Carlton". Sporting News. 31 August 2019. Retrieved 23 September 2019.
  9. ^ Benoiton, Jake (16 February 2020). "Carlton announce seven-man leadership group for 2020". Zero Hanger. Retrieved 21 July 2020.
  10. ^ Jourdan Canil (15 September 2020). "342 and out: Carlton warrior calls it a day after 18-year career". Australian Football League. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  11. ^ "Simmo joins the Game Changers". www.carltonfc.com.au. Retrieved 4 December 2020.
  12. ^ Kade Simpson's player profile at AFL Tables

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kade Simpson.
  • Kade Simpson's profile on the official website of the Carlton Football Club
  • Kade Simpson's playing statistics from AFL Tables
  • Kade Simpson profile in Blueseum
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John Nicholls Medal · Carlton Football Club best and fairest winners
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Italics denote winner
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Jim Stynes Medal winners
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Australian squad – 2006 International Rules Series
Coach: Sheedy
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Australian squad – 2008 International Rules Series
Coach: Malthouse
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Australian squad – 2010 International Rules Series
Coach: Malthouse
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Australian squad – 2017 International Rules Series
Coach: Scott
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First round
Second round
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  • 84. Mick Martyn