Adam Simpson

Adam Simpson
Simpson in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Adam Simpson
Nickname(s)	Simmo
Date of birth	(1976-02-16) 16 February 1976
Original team(s)	Eltham (DVFL)
Draft	14th pick, 1993 National Draft (NM)
Height/Weight	185 cm / 86 kg
Position(s)	Midfielder
Playing career
Years	Club	Games (Goals)
1995–2009	North Melbourne	306 (83)
International team honours
Years	Team	Games (Goals)
2002–2003	Australia	4 (0)
Coaching career3
Years	Club	Games (W–L–D)
2014–	West Coast	47 (29–17–1)
3 Coaching statistics correct as of 2015.
Career highlights
AFL Rising Star nominee 1996 North Melbourne premiership side 1996, 1999 North Melbourne best and fairest 2002 All-Australian team 2002 North Melbourne captain 2004–2008

Adam Simpson (born 16 February 1976) is a former Australian rules footballer who is the current coach of the West Coast Eagles in the Australian Football League (AFL). A left-footed midfielder, his playing career for North Melbourne spanned from 1995 to 2009, including 306 games.

From Melbourne, Simpson played junior football for Eltham and the Northern Knights before being recruited to North Melbourne at the 1993 National Draft. He made his debut during the 1995 season, and won a premiership the following year, during which he was also nominated for the AFL Rising Star award. Another premiership followed in 1999, and in 2002, Simpson was named in the All-Australian team and also won North Melbourne's best and fairest award, the Syd Barker Medal. He was appointed club captain in 2004, and held the position until stepping down at the end of the 2008 season, with his span including a preliminary final in 2007. Simpson played his 300th game in 2009, the third North Melbourne player to do so, and finished his career towards the end of the season. He was appointed coach of West Coast in October 2013, replacing John Worsfold.

Early life

Simpson grew up in the northern suburbs of Melbourne where he played junior football for Eltham in the suburban Diamond Valley Football League. He also played under-18 football for Northern Knights.

AFL playing career

(1995-2003)

Simpson was recruited by North Melbourne at the 1993 National Draft. He made his senior debut for the club against the Eagles in round 18 at Princes Park during the 1995 season. The following season he played for North Melbourne in the grand final win over Sydney. Earlier in the season he was nominated for the Rising Star award. Simpson also played a key midfield role for North Melbourne when the team won the 1999 Grand Final. In 2002, he won the club best and fairest award (Syd Barker Medal) and he was named in the All-Australian team.

Club captain (2004-2008)

Simpson with North Melbourne in 2007

Simpson was appointed club captain in 2004, and he led the Kangaroos into the finals the following year.

In 2005, the skipper narrowly missed recording a fifth consecutive top-three finish in the club best and fairest. He finished 4th, one vote behind 3rd and 2 votes shy of second. That year he missed two games with a punctured lung, but he still tallied over 400 disposals for the season with his industrious playmaking style.

Round 5 2007, he racked up a career equalling high 41 disposals, including a goal, in the Roos 16 point win against Geelong at Kardinia Park. Weeks later, he played his 250th game against Carlton in a home game at Carrawa on the Gold Coast. North Melbourne won the game 22-13 (147) to 20-10 (130). Simpson had 20 disposals. At the end of the game, his team-mates celebrated his 250 milestone by chairlifting him from the field.

On November 5, Adam Simpson announced he was stepping down as captain but he would continue playing in 2009. Brent Harvey became the new captain.

Controversy

In 2009 Adam Simpson along with Daniel Pratt admitted to making a YouTube video entitled “The Adventures of Little Boris”. The video was of a rubber chicken named Boris performing sex acts on a chicken carcass. This resulted in North Melbourne giving them fines of $5,000 each over their part in the sex video.

Simpson and Pratt were among seven Kangaroos players responsible for producing the film, which put a media spotlight on the club and AFL players in general over their attitudes to women.

Retirement

Simpson retired during the 2009 season. With North Melbourne out of finals contention, Simpson announced his retirement on 27 July 2009. He played the last of his 306 games on Friday night against Carlton in round 18 at Docklands, July 31. He ended his playing career after 15 seasons in the same round he made his debut. Simpson played every game during the North Melbourne 1996 and 1999 premiership seasons, and during his career he missed seven games as a regular player. He was the third player to notch 300 games for North Melbourne. At the end of his playing career he was remembered as hard-at-the-ball and as a favourite son of North Melbourne Football Club.

AFL coaching career

West Coast Eagles appointed Simpson coach for the 2014 season. He replaced John Worsfold who stood down after a disappointing season in 2013. Simpson was selected ahead of applicants Scott Burns and Peter Sumich. In his first year as senior coach the Eagles finished 9th. The following year, Simpson and the Eagles surprised many commentators by their performance when the club finished 2nd at the end home & away rounds.

Prior to coaching the Eagles, Simpson began his coaching career as an assistant coach under Alistair Clarkson at Hawthorn in 2010, and he was the midfield & forward coach for the Hawks when the club won the Grand Final in 2013.

Statistics

Playing statistics

Season	Team	#	Games	D	K	H	M	T	H/O	G	B	D	K	H	M	T	H/O	G	B
			Totals									Averages (per game)
1995	North Melbourne	37	2	11	5	6	1	1	1	0	0	5.5	2.5	3.0	0.5	0.5	0.5	0.0	0.0
1996	North Melbourne	37	25	258	164	94	46	35	11	16	8	10.3	6.6	3.8	1.8	1.4	0.4	0.6	0.3
1997	North Melbourne	37	19	235	153	82	46	23	14	5	7	12.4	8.1	4.3	2.4	1.2	0.7	0.3	0.4
1998	North Melbourne	37	19	287	175	112	46	45	6	9	10	15.1	9.2	5.9	2.4	2.4	0.3	0.5	0.5
1999	Kangaroos	7	25	545	409	136	113	54	48	5	9	21.8	16.4	5.4	4.5	2.2	1.9	0.2	0.4
2000	Kangaroos	7	25	492	376	116	87	83	29	5	6	19.7	15.0	4.6	3.5	3.3	1.2	0.2	0.2
2001	Kangaroos	7	21	455	309	146	88	60	21	3	0	21.7	14.7	7.0	4.2	2.9	1.0	0.1	0.0
2002	Kangaroos	7	23	565	403	162	105	72	20	7	10	24.6	17.5	7.0	4.6	3.1	0.9	0.3	0.4
2003	Kangaroos	7	21	532	327	205	126	45	44	11	6	25.3	15.6	9.8	6.0	2.1	2.1	0.5	0.3
2004	Kangaroos	7	22	544	317	227	118	73	40	4	8	24.7	14.4	10.3	5.4	3.3	1.8	0.2	0.4
2005	Kangaroos	7	21	413	230	183	84	63	28	3	1	19.7	11.0	8.7	4.0	3.0	1.3	0.1	0.0
2006	Kangaroos	7	19	436	226	210	96	58	16	2	2	22.9	11.9	11.1	5.1	3.1	0.8	0.1	0.1
2007	Kangaroos	7	25	610	327	283	104	110	34	4	4	24.4	13.1	11.3	4.2	4.4	1.4	0.2	0.2
2008	North Melbourne	7	21	505	238	267	77	77	13	4	5	24.0	11.3	12.7	3.7	3.7	0.6	0.2	0.2
2009	North Melbourne	7	18	442	199	243	95	76	16	5	4	24.6	11.1	13.5	5.3	4.2	0.9	0.3	0.2
Career			306	6330	3858	2472	1232	875	341	83	80	20.7	12.6	8.1	4.0	2.9	1.1	0.3	0.3

Coaching statistics

Season	Team	Games Coached	Wins	Losses	Draws	Points %	Ladder Position	League Teams
2014	West Coast	22	11	11	0	50.0%	9	18
2015	West Coast	25	18	6	1	72%	2	18
Career totals		47	29	18	1	61.70%	5.50	18.00

* = Unfinished season

Personal life

Simpson married his high-school sweetheart, whom he met in Year 11, and he has four children Milla, Allie, Owen and Elsa.

External links

• Adam Simpson's profile on the official website of the North Melbourne Football Club
• Adam Simpson's statistics from AFL Tables