From the legendary Wayne Carey to all-time AFL/VFL games record holder Brent Harvey, the list of footballers to captain North Melbourne Football Club is about as illustrious as they come.
Now, after 154 years of rich history, that list will finally have a Goulburn Valley connection after Mooroopna’s Jy Simpkin was announced as one of the Kangaroos’ co-captains for 2023.
Simpkin — who played his junior footy with the Cats — leads an exciting new generation of Shinboners, with his courage, skill and dedication to the club making him a fan favourite at Arden Street.
This accolade caps what has been a sparkling start to the 25-year-old’s AFL career, winning two best-and-fairests (2021 and 2022) and playing 100 games in six seasons.
Serving as the start of an exciting new chapter in his football journey, Simpkin said it was an honour to represent the football club and his local community in this manner.
“To be co-captain of the Kangas is really exciting, especially with the appointment of ‘Clarko’ (Alastair Clarkson) as our senior coach and him bringing along guys like ‘Ratts’ (Brett Ratten) and Todd Viney, I’ve got such great leaders to learn off,” he said.
“I’m really looking forward to the challenge, my leadership has grown a fair bit over the past few years, I’ve worked really hard at that aspect of my game, so to be in this position now is very exciting.
“Being a young kid growing up in the country, all you dream of is being able to run out there and play one AFL game, so to not only do that once, but now be captain, it has put me in a great spot to be a role model for other young kids growing up in towns like Mooroopna.”
Despite his football having taken him to such great heights, Simpkin still has a strong connection to his roots at Mooroopna.
So when the town found itself in the midst of devastating floods during the off-season, he was shocked to his core and has since done all he can to help the community bounce back.
“Obviously it was devastating what happened around the community, at the time I was overseas, so there wasn’t a great deal that I could do to come back at help out at the time,” he said.
“But I kept in constant contact with my family and friends who were going through it and just give my support in any way I could.
“And then more recently I’ve been able to get to Rochester and help out through the club and us as players really love that sort of thing and being able to put smiles on people’s faces after what had been a very tough time.”
From a football perspective, Simpkin is still closely involved with his home town Cats and closely follows his cousin Kai Madgwick and current crew of senior players that don the famous hoops.
“Most years I come back and watch Mooroopna play, last year during the finals especially, I came up and watched a couple of games which was pretty cool,” he said.
“My cousin Kai Madgwick and a few of my other mates were playing in those games and it was nice to just kick back, watch some local footy and not take things too seriously.
“I’m in their Facebook group and I’ve seen the progress they’ve made over the off-season, so hopefully this year they can take that next step and maybe make a grand final.”
Along with his friends and family at Mooroopna, Simpkin will have another Goulburn Valley connection at the club with him this year, after North selected Girgarre product Brayden George with pick 26 in last year’s draft.
He said the young forward had had a big impact in his short time at the club as he continued his recovery from a knee reconstruction.
“Brayden is a great kid, he grew up in Girgarre and is just one of the great country kids you love having at your club,” he said.
“His training and work ethic is second to none, at the moment he is working his backside off every day as he continues to come back from his ACL injury.
“So to be at the point now where he is running is wonderful to see and, although he might not get too much game time this year with his recovery, he will be a great talent for us moving forward.”
The development of George is one of many rays of positivity to come out of North’s pre-season.
With four-time Hawthorn premiership coach Alastair Clarkson taking the reins, the young Kangaroos have undergone a complete overhaul during the summer, as they look to pull themselves from the depths of the AFL ladder.
“It’s been really good so far, everything has been very positive as Clarko and the rest of the coaching staff have really instilled a lot of confidence in us as a group,” he said.
“A lot of our young boys have probably lacked that confidence simply due to losing so much, so to have a coach like Clarko that has a really set game plan has really helped us.
“I’ve seen a lot of growth from all of our boys over the summer.”
But will that pre-season positivity translate into more wins come the start of the season?
Well the new co-skipper said he would be doing everything in his power to turn the tide at Arden Street.
“My goal is to try and be the best teammate I can be, the last couple of years I think I’ve showed I’m capable of playing good football in the midfield, but I’d love to win more games of footy, so if that means having to play different roles within the team then so be it,” he said.
“What the fans can expect is a much more competitive side, we’ve worked very hard on our defence, so hopefully there won’t be as many blowouts and our supporters will see us in a lot more games.”