Tommy Simpkin...impressive

[kp83]

Like the look of this guy. His positioning seems almost flawless and his body work was really good last night. Loved the bit of play where he held out Cordy in the goal square and allowed McEvoy to drift infront and take a relieving mark. Just seems to be a very intelligent defender. I know he only played on another kid last night and the big test will be against the bigger guys like Kennedy, Cloke etc but really liking his work at the moment.
While I'm at it, I have loved Gears start to the season too. His disposal seems to have improved significantly over the off season and his reading of the play has been great. Perhaps our most improved so far??
Good to see the mid tier players improving.

GO SAINTS!!

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Those two were a huge positive for us last night. Pretty much didn't lose a single one on one contest for the game, along with Dempster.
I saw both of Simpkins games for us last year and he made a few major bloopers that were very costly and didn't look up to it at that stage, but he's looking far, far better this year so far.
I reckon it was a bad move letting Zac go, even though he had some very obvious deficiencies, but it seems that all the areas Zac was lacking Simpkin excells in, like "defensive smarts" and so on. If he had Zac's height and leap and speed he'd have the potential to be "elite" I reckon.

[BigMart]

Very good, but not unexpected..... His VFL form for two seasons has been first class, and he was basically playing on a VFL standard fwd.

Blake was good.
Dempster outstanding
Geary very good again
Fisher was Fisher
Newnes was OK, probably beat early on by Dalhuis but solid on other opps...

[Junction Oval]

Tommy is a thinker and very cool under pressure for such a young player. He may still be a bit light when matched up against the bigger sides - Hawks, Blues, G'long, C'wood.

The good thing is that he will improve with every game. Our first 5 "easier" matches are great for general team building.

[eel33]

Something that impressed me about Tommy's game last night was the classic defender's transition from punching the ball from behind through into tackling the opponent within two-three paces. This is something Max used to do brilliantly, and there were a couple of occasions last night where for a few moments it felt like a time warp - the movement was so similar.

Granted he was playing on a young guy and the Doggies movement into the forward line was generally poor, but at least Simpkin seems to be a natural backman. He knows where to stand, how far to stand off, and the right angles to get to the contest. Closing speed looked fine. Has clearly been drilled into getting into the right positions for transitions out of the very last line of defence. Liked what I saw, and hope that with a bit more strength on his frame we may have found/developed a defender who can get the job done despite being undersized. We may still need someone for the monster power forwards though - while you can get stronger it's tough to get taller.

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

As I've said a few times previously, I've thought Tom would be the ideal replacement for Blake, since I first saw him playing for Sandy a couple of years ago, so time will tell if he's able to hold down full back as well. If not, there will still almost certainly be a place back there somewhere for him in the long term, as he's very good at what he does. Kicks it long, too. 55m on a regular basis.

[maverick]

Like te look of Simpkin, he competed well, disposal was a bit dodgy though.

[desertsaint]

Doesn't collapse like a heap of bricks when given a tap on the jaw - unlike that annoying little Freo pest.

[matrix]

i rate him
twice he was up against that monster in the square (cordy or gordy was it?) and he made a contest well
was easily outsized in height and bulk, but held his own
id keep him in
even when jimmy comes back

[vacuous space]

Height is overrated. Most key defenders are shorter than their opponents anyway. I'd back Tommy against bigger bulkier players because of his giant football brain.

[bobmurray]

Height is overrated.

Is that right

[vacuous space]

Height is overrated.

Is that right

Yep. Most key defenders are shorter than their opponents anyway. I'd back Tommy against bigger bulkier players because of his giant football brain.

I think I may have already said that.

[bobmurray]

A team doesn't is unbalanced if it doesn't have it's fair share of talls, they are an important part of a teams structure.

What is even more important though is a team has quality talls, there is a thought that to beat the press you kick it long to a contest and if your talls are 1
out and are of reasonable quality or better then they have a good chance of winning the contest, i don't believe a team of midgets can prevail, ultimately...

[BigMart]

Cloke and Dawes monstered him just a month ago..... Cloke had nine shots at goal

[AnythingsPossibleSaints]

Pretty sure Cloke wasn't on Simpkin though. From memory it was Fisher on him most of the time.

[BigMart]

He played on whoever was deep the time..... Cloke, Dawes and paine

[joffaboy]

Seemed his accuracy coming out of defence wasn't the greatest.

Seems balanced and can contest well.

Will depend on what our mids do when he is up against a gorilla forward, not the types the Bulldogs put on the park last night.

[vacuous space]

Cloke and Dawes monstered him just a month ago..... Cloke had nine shots at goal

Positives
Gilbert, Geary, Kosi....whole game

Goddard, Riewoldt, Stanley.....half a game

Dal, Joey, Armitage....got some run in their legs and touched the footy and laid some tackles

Simpkin

Siposs, cripps, ledger..... Continue to show signs here and there

[BigMart]

Yes, he showed signs here and there...... One good pack spoil in particular....

He was out pointed by Cloke, as a lot are.... But he is a super competative kid

[clarky449]

Took a close look at him this week. Love the way he spoils. Gets his fist into the right places. Will look alot more every week now. But like what i saw, thus far.

[Spiro K]

A few times , looking at his movement and body to body contact, I thought I could see Max H. His spoiling is first rate and his timing when it comes to making physical contact with his opposition player and spoiling is like a carbon copy of our Max. What I also like about Tommy S is his neat disposal. Once James Gwilt returns we will have a few defenders who can come out of defence and can hit targets up the field (Sam F, Jason B, Dempster, Geary - well he is getting there slowly). Yes, he may need to bulk up a little but if you have a good brain, excellent timing and fine body positioning you will do very nicely. A very good defensive coach like Max H also helps!

[SaintPav]

A few times , looking at his movement and body to body contact, I thought I could see Max H. His spoiling is first rate and his timing when it comes to making physical contact with his opposition player and spoiling is like a carbon copy of our Max. What I also like about Tommy S is his neat disposal. Once James Gwilt returns we will have a few defenders who can come out of defence and can hit targets up the field (Sam F, Jason B, Dempster, Geary - well he is getting there slowly). Yes, he may need to bulk up a little but if you have a good brain, excellent timing and fine body positioning you will do very nicely. A very good defensive coach like Max H also helps!

He kicked it straight to the opposition a couple of times Spiro, but he is coming along ok.

I'm am petrified when we play a team like Carlton. If our backs get isolated with quick ball movement by the likes of Judd etc we may be in a bit of trouble.