Simpkin

[saintspremiers]

Is he a player?

Not sure. Needs to improve but still young and may make it.

We need another tall down back with Zac gone, so worth keeping in the side for a few more games IMO.

[sainter#4]

abit undersized, but thought he was good. has a good kick on him and also closes VERY VERY quickly on the lead - which most our defenders dont. Heres hoping he is a maxxy V2

[skeptic]

i liked his game... a bit small at this stage but IMO shd keep his spot as a back pocket for now

[magnifisaint]

He played well. Good attack on the footy

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

I like how he goes about it and have thought for a couple of years that he'd be the perfect one to replace Blake back there, in a pocket/flank, but am concerned at how thin he is if he's going to be playing FB for us. I shudder to think what the likes of Cloke, Kennedy, Brown, Hurley, Hawkins, Franklin, J Riewoldt and co could do to him one out. Fingers crossed that he's Max part two, or letting Zac go could be very, very costly, especially when you consider those we seemingly kept in preference to him are playing in the VFL.

[hungry for a premiership]

I'm confident Simpkin will develop into a better FB than Zac was. Similar skill set and size, but Tommy has better natural defensive nous, is better in a 1-on-1 contest. Just needs to put on some kg's, get some experience, and develop a fearlessness that was Zac's strong point and he'll be a player.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

I hope you're right, but I wouldn't say he's a similar size, as I think Zac is more like 197cm or so (I'm pretty confident that he's taller then the 195cm he's listed at), whereas Simpkin is listed at 191. They are both relatively thin, but those extra inches, plus his extra speed and leap, give Zac some physical advantages, especially with more and more of those up forward getting closer to 200cm. I agree that Tom has better defensive nous though, which Zac lacked.

[prwilkinson]

Loved his energy and effort. Deserves another game next week.

[bergholt]

Is he a player?

Not sure. Needs to improve but still young and may make it.

i didn't think he did too much wrong last night, though admittedly he wasn't exactly playing against the cream of the crop. goes in hard and his disposal seems solid so definitely worth persisting with.

[8856brother]

i liked his game... a bit small at this stage but IMO shd keep his spot as a back pocket for now

Do you think he will get bigger? Thought he was solid yesterday.

[BigMart]

He is not the same size as Dawson......2 inches and 7 kg difference

That said, he has played on big Fwds most of his footy career and performed.....he is a very solid defender.

He has been coached by Stephen Silvagni and Max Hudghton.....Silvagni played on big plugger and Max stood Nietz, Richo and Tredrea.......they would know some tricks in dealing with being outsized

[magnifisaint]

Dawson is as physical as a jellyfish

[spert]

Is a good prospect, but we really need another big body in the backline

[gringo]

Is a good prospect, but we really need another big body in the backline

He is scarily undersized as a key defender and will get ripped up by Cloke and the other monster forwards. He is more like a Fisher type as he has good ground level skills, closes fast and is good at the uncontested marks. If Fisher wasn't there we would see a lot more of him. Zac was very under rated and could at least make the big forwards have to contest the ball.

[defacto]

He is not the same size as Dawson......2 inches and 7 kg difference

That said, he has played on big Fwds most of his footy career and performed.....he is a very solid defender.

He has been coached by Stephen Silvagni and Max Hudghton.....Silvagni played on big plugger and Max stood Nietz, Richo and Tredrea.......they would know some tricks in dealing with being outsized

for some weird reason. simpkin reminds me of a mix between fisher and dawson. dunno why

[saintsRrising]

Simpkin is our next "Blake"..and not our next "Zac'.

We are just going to fill in this year without a true FB, and Simpkin will at times do this.

Pelchen will be on the hunt for a bigger defender in next years trade/draft.....or who knows Ferg may bloom into it.

[BigMart]

Ferguson is definitely not a key defender.....more in the Sam Gilbert mould....

As I have mentioned, we have 6 players on our list that fill the second/third defender roles......Blake, simpkin, fisher, gwilt, Gilbert, ferguson......then we have Winmar, Clarke, Goddard, Dempster....medium defenders....

We lack Key Defenders and Small Defenders

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Dawson is as physical as a jellyfish

He's not "physical" per se, but his height and long arms and so on makes him awkward to deal with. Just ask Cloke, who Zac had the better of in two grand finals, or even Franklin, who didn't ever do much against Zac. If Simpkin does as well on them as Zac did, we'll be laughing.

[Con Gorozidis]

Ferguson is definitely not a key defender.....more in the Sam Gilbert mould....

As I have mentioned, we have 6 players on our list that fill the second/third defender roles......Blake, simpkin, fisher, gwilt, Gilbert, ferguson......then we have Winmar, Clarke, Goddard, Dempster....medium defenders....

We lack Key Defenders and Small Defenders

chec out fergs date of birth. still very young. you cant make a call on a guy "definitely" at 19!

as for simpkin. he is one of those guys u dont want/have to notice. does things right and doesnt make mistakes. needs more games and another year or two in the gym and he will be a fine reliable key defender. sure it would be great if he was 2 or 3cm taller. decent replacement for blake in the next few years.

i reckon a 2015 backline of:

gilbert simpkin gwilt
cripps ferg winmar

is actually pretty decent.

[mick13]

He's the same height as Max, wouldn't be that much heavier/lighter either. He's shown some good signs purely as a defender. Some question marks over him going forward with the ball. But as mentioned, he's had SOS and Max (two very good FB's of the past 20 years) to teach him. I think he'll turn out to be a pretty good defender for us.

[SaintPav]

Ferguson is definitely not a key defender.....more in the Sam Gilbert mould....

As I have mentioned, we have 6 players on our list that fill the second/third defender roles......Blake, simpkin, fisher, gwilt, Gilbert, ferguson......then we have Winmar, Clarke, Goddard, Dempster....medium defenders....

We lack Key Defenders and Small Defenders

chec out fergs date of birth. still very young. you cant make a call on a guy "definitely" at 19!

as for simpkin. he is one of those guys u dont want/have to notice. does things right and doesnt make mistakes. needs more games and another year or two in the gym and he will be a fine reliable key defender. sure it would be great if he was 2 or 3cm taller. decent replacement for blake in the next few years.

i reckon a 2015 backline of:

gilbert simpkin gwilt
cripps ferg winmar

is actually pretty decent.

going again early Con?

[Con Gorozidis]

a bit early - but 3 of those guys are already there. 2 are on the fringe. so im only going early on ferg. and sheesh hes coming along better than expected.

[SaintPav]

Ferguson is very tall but he has the build of a stick last time I saw him which was last year when he was scoffing down the scons and jam in the SC...He's too slight to be a KPP...

[Con Gorozidis]

Ferguson is very tall but he has the build of a stick last time I saw him which was last year when he was scoffing down the scons and jam in the SC...He's too slight to be a KPP...

one of the youngest blokes at the club. way too early to call.
kpps dont grow in cabbage patches. usually emerge after 5 pre-seasons.
he has only had 2 so far.
dob = 23.10.92

gimme a call in 3 years.

[saintsRrising]

Ferguson is very tall but he has the build of a stick last time I saw him which was last year when he was scoffing down the scons and jam in the SC...He's too slight to be a KPP...

And Fletcher is built like?????

Ferg is very athletic and could be a Fletcher like full back.

Early days yet. Anyway as already stated I would expect Pelchen to be on the look out late this year.