North Melbourne vice-captain Jy Simpkin wants to play a leading role in the Kangaroos no longer being “pushovers”.
Simpkin knows what people say after results like the 108-poxjmtzywint defeat to Brisbane a fortnight ago, or last year’s 128-point Good Friday massacre at the Western Bulldogs’ hands.
At age 24, he is already one of North’s best footballers, evidenced in consecutive top-two finishes in the club’s Syd Barker Medal, including winning it last year.
But Simpkin, who will play his 100th game in the rebranded Good Friday SuperClash with the Dogs, craves team success to go with the individual accolades.
“I turned 24 only a couple of weeks ago but there’s no doubt I feel like an older guy at the club,” he said.
“I have to lead the way for these younger guys. I was talking to someone not long ago and they were saying how the younger guys go in and out of games.
“But you look back to the older guys at the end of the day and if they’re not leading by example and not playing good footy, then the younger guys don’t have much hope.”
It’s words like those, as well as his daily actions at Arden Street, that have convinced Kangaroos insiders that Simpkin could be Jack Ziebell’s successor as captain as soon as next season.
Luke McDonald shares the vice-captaincy with Simpkin, who would relish the opportunity to be the next face of the football club.
“I do have leadership ambitions but I don’t get too caught up in who’s captain or who’s going to be the next captain,” he said.
“I love ‘Ziebs’ as my captain and I’d back him in every day to keep being skipper.
“We’ve also got guys like Luke McDonald, who’s also respected very highly within the group and very easily could be our next captain as well. I’m not looking too far into the future with that stuff.”
Simpkin is the centrepiece of a new-age North Melbourne midfield brimming with talent, including No.1 draft pick Jason Horne-Francis and fellow first-round selections Luke Davies-Uniacke, Will Phillips and Tarryn Thomas.
Like him, he expects they will take time to blossom but will eventually form a “damaging” centre-square combination.
Simpkin, fresh from winning 30-plus disposals in back-to-back games, has designs on joining the game’s elite midfielders and was typically frank about what he needed to do to get there.
I find a bit of the footy but at times it’s not very damaging,” he said.
“You see all the best midfielders run and carry and hit the scoreboard, so I’m trying to incorporate that into my game a bit more.
“I’ve already hit the scoreboard more this year (three goals in four matches) than I did for the whole season last year, which is a positive sign.
“It’s a mindset change, too. Growing up, I’ve never really been one to run and carry with the ball as much, whereas now I feel like I have the ability with my running capacity to be able to do that.”
