Kade Simpson (born 5 May 1984) is a former Australian rules footballer who played his entire career with the

Carlton Football Club The Carlton Football Club, nicknamed the Blues, is a professional Australian rules football club that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's top professional competition. Founded in 1864 in Carlton, an inner suburb of Me ...

in the Australian Football League (AFL). He played 342 games across 18 seasons from 2003 to 2020. He holds the VFL/AFL record for playing in the most losses of any player, with 215. Simpson predominantly played as a half-back flanker, while also spending time as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

AFL career

Early career (2002-2005)

Simpson was drafted in the fourth round of the 2002 AFL Draft. He was Carlton's first pick in that year's draft, after the club was stripped of its higher selections as punishment for salary cap infringements. Carlton were fortunate to have picked Simpson given his skills were immediately apparent, but he did not have enough weight to play regular seniors in his first two seasons; even now, his weight is a relatively light 79 kg. He played primarily for Carlton's , the

Northern Bullants The Preston Football Club, which trades and plays as the Northern Bullants, is a long-established Australian rules football club based in Preston that plays in the Victorian Football League (VFL). It plays its home games at the Preston City Ov ...

, in his first two years, and on his few selections in the Carlton senior team, received so little ground time that he did not have a disposal in his first three games. Simpson first broke into the senior team as a regular in the latter half of 2005. Still eligible for the

AFL Rising Star The AFL Rising Star is an Australian rules football award presented annually to the player adjudged the best young player in the Australian Football League (AFL) for the year. It was first presented in the 1993 season, and was won by Nathan Buc ...

in his third season on the list, Simpson was nominated in Round 18. He played nine of the last 10 games of the season, missing one game through injury, and his pace and skill began to attract attention.

Leadership Group and John Nicholls Medal (2006-2018)

Simpson took a big step up in the 2006 season, being elevated to the leadership group and running 4th in the best and fairest. He played every game, mainly as a running link-man from half-back. He finished in the top 5 in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Sports * American Football League (AFL), a name shared by several separate and unrelated professional American football leagues: ** American Football League (1926) (a.k.a. "AFL I"), first rival of the National Football Leagu ...

for

running bounce A running bounce, or simply bounce, is a skill in the sport of Australian rules football (necessitated by the Laws of the Game) and some variants where a player, bounces (or touches) the ball on the ground in order to run more than the maximum di ...

s, which was typical of his rebound play, averaged 19 disposals with a maximum of 30, and eleven goals. This style of running play prompted Kevin Sheedy to select Simpson for the

Australian International Rules team :''This article concerns the men's team; for information on the Australian women's team, see Australia women's international rules football team.'' The Australia international rules football team is Australia's senior representative team in Inte ...

for the 2006 tour of Ireland, and

Mick Malthouse Michael Raymond Malthouse (born 17 August 1953) is a former Australian rules footballer, who played for the St Kilda Football Club and Richmond Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). After finishing his playing career, Malthou ...

to do likewise for in 2008, a series in which he won the Jim Stynes Medal. By 2007, Simpson had emerged as one of the leaders of the club. He captained the Blues between Rounds 14 and 19 during 2007, in the absence of regular captain and vice-captain

Lance Whitnall Lance Whitnall (born 23 August 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer, and a former captain of the Carlton Football Club. Early career (1997–1999) Debuting in 1997 as a 17-year-old, the young Whitnall was recruited in the 1996 AFL D ...

and

Nick Stevens Nick Stevens (born 3 January 1980) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League and former coach of South Australian National Football League club Glenelg. He played in four pre-season premierships, with Port Adel ...

, and has been vice-captain to

Chris Judd Christopher Dylan Judd (born 8 September 1983) is a former professional Australian rules footballer and captain of both the West Coast Eagles and Carlton Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Widely regarded as one of the bes ...

since Stevens' retirement. In 2010, Kade Simpson had arguably his best season for the Carlton Football Club, polling nine Brownlow votes (Second for Carlton, behind medal-winner Chris Judd). The most noticeable feature of his performances during the season was his tackling ability, because on 12 occasions he laid five or more tackles. Simpson played 158 consecutive games from Round 15, 2005, until Round 15, 2012, before missing a match with a broken jaw. He was, at the time, considered the club record holder for most consecutive games, but in December 2012, the AFL amended the interpretation of this record such that Bruce Doull, who missed two club games during his streak due to playing in interstate matches on the same day, assumed the club record with 162 consecutive games. In the 2013 season, Simpson won the John Nicholls medal, Carltons best and fairest award. Kade had 533 disposals that season, after an outstanding year playing at half-back flank position under new coach Mick Malthouse. In the 2016 season, Simpson had an outstanding year averaging 27.2 disposals per game. He was nominated in the All Australian squad of 40 but was not named in the final 22. He finished second in Carlton's best and fairest award behind defender Sam Docherty.

300 gamer (2018-2020)

On 30 June 2018 Simpson became the fifth Carlton player to reach the 300 game milestone. In 2019, Simpson signed a one-year contract extension to play on in 2020. With the retirement of Daniel Wells at the end of the 2019 season, Simpson became the last remaining survivor from the 2002 AFL draft. He also decided to step down from the club's leadership group that year. He retired at the end of the 2020 season, finishing with 342 senior games – the third most of any Carlton player in the club's history.

Coaching career

Simpson was appointed assistant coach of Carlton's

AFLW AFL Women's (AFLW) is Australia's national semi-professional Australian rules football league for female players. The first season of the league in February and March 2017 had eight teams; the league expanded to 10 teams in the 2019 season, 1 ...

team in November 2020.

Statistics

: ''Statistics are correct to the end of the 2020 season''Kade Simpson's player profile at AFL Tables
/ref> , - , 2003 , , , , 6 , 3 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 0 , , 3 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 0.0 , , 1.0 , , 0 , - , 2004 , , , , 6 , 3 , , 1 , , 1 , , 7 , , 5 , , 12 , , 4 , , 5 , , 0.3 , , 0.3 , , 2.3 , , 1.7 , , 4.0 , , 1.3 , , 1.7 , , 0 , - , 2005 , , , , 6 , 15 , , 9 , , 10 , , 118 , , 56 , , 174 , , 57 , , 26 , , 0.6 , , 0.7 , , 7.9 , , 3.7 , , 11.6 , , 3.8 , , 1.7 , , 0 , - , 2006 , , , , 6 , 22 , , 11 , , 8 , , 296 , , 124 , , 420 , , 147 , , 53 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 13.5 , , 5.6 , , 19.1 , , 6.7 , , 2.4 , , 2 , - , 2007 , , , , 6 , 22 , , 17 , , 12 , , 281 , , 130 , , 411 , , 103 , , 64 , , 0.8 , , 0.5 , , 12.8 , , 5.9 , , 18.7 , , 4.7 , , 2.9 , , 3 , - ,

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, , , , 6 , 22 , , 9 , , 14 , , 242 , , 170 , , 412 , , 137 , , 61 , , 0.4 , , 0.6 , , 11.0 , , 7.7 , , 18.7 , , 6.2 , , 2.8 , , 0 , - , 2009 , , , , 6 , 23 , , 15 , , 12 , , 287 , , 202 , , 489 , , 129 , , 82 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 12.5 , , 8.8 , , 21.3 , , 5.6 , , 3.6 , , 5 , - , 2010 , , , , 6 , 23 , , 17 , , 19 , , 328 , , 210 , , 538 , , 142 , , 93 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 14.3 , , 9.1 , , 23.4 , , 6.2 , , 4.0 , , 9 , - , 2011 , , , , 6 , 24 , , 17 , , 18 , , 361 , , 175 , , 536 , , 147 , , 79 , , 0.7 , , 0.8 , , 15.0 , , 7.3 , , 22.3 , , 6.1 , , 3.3 , , 5 , - ,

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

, , , , 6 , 19 , , 15 , , 13 , , 267 , , 159 , , 426 , , 106 , , 62 , , 0.8 , , 0.7 , , 14.1 , , 8.4 , , 22.4 , , 5.6 , , 3.3 , , 6 , - ,

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

, , , , 6 , 24 , , 6 , , 9 , , 350 , , 183 , , 533 , , 140 , , 51 , , 0.3 , , 0.4 , , 14.6 , , 7.6 , , 22.2 , , 5.8 , , 2.1 , , 9 , - ,

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, , , , 6 , 22 , , 4 , , 6 , , 349 , , 171 , , 520 , , 139 , , 52 , , 0.2 , , 0.3 , , 15.9 , , 7.8 , , 23.6 , , 6.3 , , 2.4 , , 8 , - , 2015 , , , , 6 , 20 , , 3 , , 1 , , 285 , , 175 , , 460 , , 118 , , 42 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 14.3 , , 8.8 , , 23.0 , , 5.9 , , 2.1 , , 1 , - ,

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

, , , , 6 , 22 , , 3 , , 0 , , 383 , , 214 , , 597 , , 152 , , 54 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 17.4 , , 9.7 , , 27.1 , , 6.9 , , 2.5 , , 3 , - ,

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a s ...

, , , , 6 , 22 , , 4 , , 3 , , 377 , , 152 , , 529 , , 162 , , 59 , , 0.2 , , 0.1 , , 17.1 , , 6.9 , , 24.0 , , 7.4 , , 2.7 , , 8 , - ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

, , , , 6 , 21 , , 4 , , 0 , , 369 , , 180 , , 549 , , 115 , , 42 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 17.6 , , 8.6 , , 26.1 , , 5.5 , , 2.0 , , 6 , - ,

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

, , , , 6 , 18 , , 3 , , 0 , , 265 , , 101 , , 366 , , 85 , , 46 , , 0.2 , , 0.0 , , 14.7 , , 5.6 , , 20.3 , , 4.7 , , 2.6 , , 2 , - ,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global social and economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, worldwide lockdowns and the largest economic recession since the Great Depression in t ...

, , , , 6 , 17 , , 1 , , 0 , , 201 , , 63 , , 264 , , 66 , , 19 , , 0.1 , , 0.0 , , 11.8 , , 3.7 , , 15.5 , , 3.9 , , 1.1 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 342 !! 139 !! 126 !! 4766 !! 2470 !! 7236 !! 1949 !! 893 !! 0.4 !! 0.4 !! 13.9 !! 7.2 !! 21.2 !! 5.7 !! 2.6 !! 67 Notes

Honours and achievements

Team * 2× Pre-season premiership player (): 2005, 2007 Individual *

John Nicholls Medal The John Nicholls Medal (formerly the Robert Reynolds Trophy from 1934 to 2003) is an Australian rules football award given to the player(s) adjudged best and fairest for the Carlton Football Club for the season. The voting system as of the 2017 A ...

: 2013 * Carlton Vice-captain: 2013–2014, 2016 * Women of Carlton Player Ambassador Award: 2015 * Carltonians High Achiever Award: 2014, 2016 * Inner Blue Ruthless Award: 2013, 2016 * AFL Rising Star nominee: 2005 * Jim Stynes Medal:

References

External links

* *
Kade Simpson profile in Blueseum
{{DEFAULTSORT:Simpson, Kade 1984 births Carlton Football Club players Living people Preston Football Club (VFA) players Australian rules footballers from Victoria (Australia) Eastern Ranges players John Nicholls Medal winners Australia international rules football team players