IN his early years at Carlton, a few of Kade Simpson’s teammate took to calling him ‘donuts’.
It wasn’t because he liked them – donuts, that is – or that he carried any excess weight – he doesn’t.
Far from it; nothing he was eating then – or even that he eats now – has ever seemed to add any weight to his inherently lean frame.
The good-natured nickname was simply a derivation of Simpson’s first three games of AFL football – where he did not have a single possession in any of them.
His coach at the time, Denis Pagan, recalls the nickname and said it was a sign of the acceptance that Simpson had within the Blues group.
They knew he hadn’t had a touch in his first three games in 2003 – Round 11 against Geelong, Round 12 against Richmond, and Round 19 against Port Adelaide – but also knew he would soon prove he could play the game.
“His teammates were calling him donuts,” Pagan said this week when asked about the shy, skinny kid from Emerald who was only afforded limited game time in those three games a decade ago.
“Kade was that skinny when he came to the club that we almost had to change the shower-heads so he could get wet.
“Kade was that skinny when he came to the club that we almost had to change the shower-heads so he could get wet.”
“We always knew he had talent, but he had to do it the hard way early on. That’s the way it was at Carlton back then.
“I remember saying to him, ‘Just take a kick-in if you can, touch it on your boot, get on the stats sheet, and you will feel better.’
“And look at what he has been able to achieve since then. He’s been such a good player for the Carlton Football Club over the years and it almost started from nothing.”
It might have taken Simpson until his fourth AFL game – in his second season, in 2004 – to register a stat, but as Pagan points out, it’s an understatement to say that he hasn’t looked back since.
Fast forward a decade on, and he is not only one of the Blues’ most important players, Simpson is also one of the team leaders.
Assuming the vice-captain’s role with Andrew Carrazzo this year in support of new skipper Marc Murphy, he has been noticeably vocal in bringing the Carlton group together after the final round win over Port Adelaide and last week’s emotional elimination final win over Richmond.
Quiet, shy and unassuming off the field, with a desire to keep the attention away from himself, he has an almost insatiable appetite for the contest and for the team out on the field.
His remarkable journey will see him play his 200th game for Carlton in tonight’s semi-final against Sydney at ANZ Stadium – only the 33rd Blues player to achieve this milestone.
From three ‘donut’ matches to a double ton, and not to mention almost 4000 disposals later, it’s been a remarkable journey that Simpson has traversed over the past decade.
“The 200th game has definitely snuck up on me, ” Simpson said this week in a rare interview to celebrate his milestone match that his parents Gail and Terry and sister Carlie will attend.
“It’s a proud feeling to reach it, and you don’t knock things like that back, but that’s something I will think about more when my footy is over.
“All I care about is how the team is going to go against Sydney.” The modest Simpson – No.45 in the 2002 national draft, Carlton’s first pick since its smashing from the AFL over salary cap rorts – allowed himself a few moments of reflection this week to explain his tough initiation.
“I pretty much came in as a young kid from (Emerald) high school,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect, I was just happy to be going to a big club, and to stay in Melbourne.
“I played about 20 minutes in that first game against Geelong and touched it a couple of times, but each time it ended up being called a ball up.
“Then I played about two minutes in my second game against Richmond. I was dropped after that, but was brought back for my third game against Port Adelaide later in the year.
“I had played in the reserves the day before, but was flown to Adelaide as there was a player under an injury cloud. I played about 20 minutes, but still didn’t trouble the scorers.”
Simpson said it wasn’t the way he envisaged his career starting, but admitted it steeled him up for the challenges that AFL football invariably throw up to all players.
“When I came in for my fourth game (against Adelaide, Round 11, 2004), Denis pretty much came up to me and said: ‘I don’t care if you have to take the kick-in, just get one on your boot early, and you will be away.’
“I actually got the first kick of the game. I was playing half-forward and the ball just spilled in my direction. I threw it straight on to my boot and a lot of weigh lifted off my shoulder.”
Simpson credits Pagan with backing him through those times and extending his contract beyond the first two seasons, in which he played only six matches.
“It was touch and go about whether I would get a new contract then,” he said. “But I became a bit more established in the team in my third season (2005) and Denis just gave me a lot of confidence.”
“He had me kicking in from full back at times, and doing some tagging jobs, there were so many things to learn and I really enjoyed it. It made me feel like I belonged.”
Simpson has had good relationships with his other coaches – Brett Ratten and over the past year Mick Malthouse – and remains eager to learn and improve as a footballer as much as he did when he was first starting out.
Part of that has seen the 29-year-old go from midfielder to rebounding defender this year, resulting in arguably his best season in navy blue.
The move to defence has not only assisted the Blues in gaining access to his hard running from defensive 50m, but has also seen him in contention to chase his first best-and-fairest at the club.
Champion Data has this year ranked Simpson as an “elite” defender in his disposals per game (22.1), metres gained (413), contested possessions (6.9) and uncontested possessions (14.8), while his intercept possessions (5.8) are rated above average.
In the second half of the season he has won 93 intercept possessions, which ranks him second in the AFL, and shows why he has been one of the best interceptors in the game this season.
“I was playing forward at the start of the season and just pinch-hitting in the midfield, so I wasn’t finding a lot of the footy,” he said. “My form was a bit down.
“It was thrown up at match committee that I should go down there and I was more than happy to give it a go.
“It started in Round 4 against West Coast and I had the confidence to do it after seeing how well Andrew Walker had been so dominant there early in the season.
“I enjoy having the whole ground in front of me, you can just see things unfold and we have had a fairly settled back six down there this year.”
Simpson remains an incredible durable player, having played every game this season.
His run of 158 consecutive matches – the second longest in the club’s history behind Bruce Doull’s 162 – came to end last year when he suffered a broken jaw after a controversial clash with then Magpie Sharrod Wellingham.
He puts this down to his ability to keep his weight down. He was 67 kilos when he arrived at the club and sits now at 75 kilos.
“I did get up around 80 kilos one pre-season, but I found it difficult to run the way I want to,” he said. “The game has probably changed a bit, when I started out you needed to try and get a bit bigger. But now I feel like running is a real strength of mine and I think being a bit light actually helps me.”
Simpson says he is loving working with Murphy, Carrazzo and the leadership group, as well as Malthouse, as the Blues seek to make the most out of their finals ‘wildcard’ which came out of Essendon’s finals expulsion.
“Off the field, I just like to go about my business,” he said. “But when I step over the white line, I don’t mind yelling and screaming and doing all those sorts of things.”
Last week’s elimination final over Richmond before almost 95,000 fans was one of the most memorable moments of his career to date.
“You don’t get to play in front of that many people too often,” he said. “Mick is all about us performing on the big stage, and there is no bigger stage than the finals.
“We’re playing some pretty good footy at the moment, but we are still having some lapses early in games. We can’t afford to do that against Sydney.
“I know we can’t give them a five-goal head-start this week, they are a quality side and you are not going to peg that back.
“They (Sydney) are one of the teams we want to model ourselves on, so it is going to be a huge challenge for us against them on their home deck.”
But the man who has gone from donuts in his first season to a double ton a decade on, thrives on challenges and he and the club insist they won’t be daunted by the Swans tonight.
This article originally appeared in the Herald Sun