Troy Simmonds (born 13 July 1978) is a former

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who played for

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

and

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in the

Australian Football League The Australian Football League (AFL) is the only fully professional competition of Australian rules football. Through the AFL Commission, the AFL also serves as the sport's governing body and is responsible for controlling the laws of the gam ...

AFL career

Melbourne: 1999 – 2001

Simmonds was first drafted by Melbourne in the 1999 pre-season draft. He played only five 5 games in 1999 but then played 22 in 2000, including the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

, during which he was carried from the field on a stretcher following a head-on charge by Essendon's Michael Long.

Fremantle: 2002 – 2004

In 2002 he was traded to Fremantle as part of a three way trade that included

Daniel Bandy Daniel Bandy (born 18 November 1975) is a former Australian rules footballer. He played as a ruckman (football), ruckman for Fremantle Football Club, Fremantle and the Western Bulldogs in the Australian Football League (AFL). He last played for ...

moving to the

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football team that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Founded in 1877 as the Footscray Football Club, and based in West Footscray in the o ...

and

Craig Ellis Craig Ellis (born 4 June 1975 in Stawell, Victoria) is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League. Football career He was drafted by North Melbourne as a 15-year-old in the 1990 AFL Draft, but only played for their ...

moving to Melbourne. This was seen as a chance for Simmonds to become Fremantle's main ruckman, as opposed to being Jeff White's understudy at Melbourne. In three seasons at Fremantle Simmonds played in 64 out of a possible 67 games, including Fremantle's first ever finals game in 2003.

Richmond: 2005 – 2010

At the end of the 2004 season, Simmonds was traded back to Victoria, again in a three-way deal, with

Heath Black Heath Black (born 28 May 1979) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Fremantle and St Kilda in the Australian Football League (AFL). Football career Noted for his speed and long left foot kicking, Black was recruited with ...

returning to Fremantle,

Aaron Fiora Aaron Fiora (born 19 April 1981) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for and in the Australian Football League (AFL). Richmond career Originally from Naracoorte, South Australia, Fiora played his junior football with Port Ade ...

moving to St Kilda and Simmonds moving to Richmond. In a move surprising to many, Simmonds signed a five-year deal with the Tigers, as opposed to the usual two or three-year contracts. After a serviceable first year with Richmond, Simmonds played some of the best football of his career in 2006 - taking several big marks and scoring several goals up forward. At the end of 2009 Simmonds signed a one-year contract for the 2010 season. Prior to Round 10, 2010, Simmonds announced his retirement.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Simmonds, Troy Living people 1978 births Richmond Football Club players Melbourne Football Club players Fremantle Football Club players Box Hill Football Club players Coburg Football Club players Australian rules footballers from Melbourne