Simmonds says best is yet to come
11:40:12 AM Thu 25 August, 2005
Jason Phelan
Exclusive to afl.com.au
It hasn't always been a smooth ride for Troy Simmonds in his first year at Punt Road, but the big ruckman-cum-forward has slowly settled in to his new home and says his best is yet to come.
"I've certainly enjoyed my first year, in terms of just being around the club and the players have all made me feel very welcome - they're a great bunch of lads," Simmonds says.
"For myself, I've been a bit inconsistent - I've played some good games and some average ones - it's that inconsistency that I've been a bit disappointed with.
"I'm gonna benefit from having that first year with the guys and getting to know everyone and the way they play and that sort of thing - it's going to be good for me down the track."
'Journeyman' is a tag that no footballer wants to wear, but after three clubs in seven years, Simmonds admits he'll have to live with it - at least for the moment.
"People say to you, 'do you wish you'd stayed at one club?' and you probably wish you could, but the way I've come through the ranks, I wasn't a star under-18 player, I worked my arse off to get to Melbourne in the pre-season draft where there was one spot and there was about 20 guys going for it," he explains.
"I was lucky enough that Melbourne picked me up, but then the time came when they wanted to keep me at Melbourne, but I didn't want to be under Jeff White my whole life - I wanted to do something with my career and that's why I went to Fremantle."
The draw of hometown Melbourne was always something Simmonds had expected to feel at some point - it just came quicker than he had imagined when he left at the end of 2001.
"Eventually you do miss home and coming back to Melbourne was something I wanted to do at some stage and it just came up sooner rather than later," he recalls.
"I took the opportunity and you know you're going to have that pressure on you - which is all part of it - but I'll work through that and I've still got plenty to prove and plenty to show at Richmond."
In the first year of a rarely-seen five-year contract, Simmonds says he tried to keep his mind clear of off-field distractions, but admits the pressure to show he was worth such a long-term investment got to him at times.
"I tried to not put too much pressure on myself through the whole situation, but it probably did get to me a little at certain times," he says.
"I tried not to think about it a lot, but the media was always going to bring it up. They expect you to be playing pretty well when you're a player that comes in on a five-year deal and I probably did start thinking about it a bit too much."
Trained primarily as a bullocking forward at Fremantle, Simmonds says he arrived at Punt Road too heavy to play the more mobile role he excels at. He trimmed down by four kilos over the course of the year and has been heartened by some good form over the past month.
"I'm at the weight (now) that I think is more suitable for me to get around the ground. Now that we know that I can hold off the weights a bit in the pre-season and concentrate more on the running," he says.
"Playing more in the ruck over the last month or so has been really good for me - I really enjoy playing that position.
"I'm probably more of a natural ruckman that can go forward. I've had some reasonable games when I've started up forward, but I'm probably more consistent when I'm in the ruck and I'm able to use my mobility around the ground and push forward.
"I do enjoy rucking and getting in at the centre bounce. I get a lot of confidence out of getting up there and trying to get the ball down to our onballers. Most people say that ruckmen are crazy, but I really enjoy getting in there and doing work in the middle of the ground."
Simmonds has not missed a game since he joined Richmond and he puts his impressive durability down to years of martial arts training - he is a third degree black belt in zen-do-kai.
The eye-catching early-season form of the Tigers received plenty of media attention, but while the players enjoyed the winning run, Simmonds says they were well aware they still had a lot of work to do.
"It was certainly exciting - there was a lot of hype around the team's performance - it was good to be a part of," he says.
"Just getting the winning feeling back in the team was great - a lot of the older guys haven't had that for a while and Terry certainly said to enjoy that winning feeling.
"We're still evolving, though. It's a pretty new game style that's come into the team and we've done a lot of improving in that area."
Simmonds is excited by the future of the current Richmond side and with a year under his belt, is looking forward to having a good pre-season and launching himself into a new year.
"I wanted to be part of a team that could really grow and develop together where I could have a good career," he says.
"Coming over that's exactly how I saw Richmond and I think we can have a lot of success together."
http://richmondfc.com.au/default.asp?pg=featurestories&spg=display&articleid=224723
