Troy Simmonds hopes for memorable night
Mark Stevens | May 09, 2008
TROY Simmonds assumes running out for the 2000 Grand Final was the highlight of his football life, but he cannot remember.
Simmonds, then a 22-year-old in a Melbourne guernsey, was cleaned up late in the second term by a locomotive named Michael Long.
Long's hip cracked into Simmonds' head as he attempted to win the ball at ground level.
He was out cold for at least five minutes, sparking a melee.
The Essendon champion lost four weeks at the tribunal. Simmonds lost his memory.
A lasting side-effect from the hit was no memory of the game or the days leading up. The highlights reel in his brain was wiped out in a split second.
Almost eight years on, Simmonds will return to the MCG as Victoria's starting ruckman.
It is such an honour, the Tiger is adamant it will be the biggest moment of his career since the 2000 Grand Final that wasn't.
"The Grand Final was when I was young and I got knocked out," Simmonds said.
"At Fremantle I was part of the club's first final and we got thrashed by Essendon.
"There hasn't been a lot of success at Richmond, so you've just got to grasp these opportunities."
The Long incident, the start of a crackdown on head-high and front-on contact, is best forgotten anyway, according to Simmonds.
"I don't remember anything and I don't really want to," he said.
"This is probably the next big thing to a Grand Final. I've just got to take the opportunity."
Simmonds, now 29, is in the best shape of career after paying out of his own pocket for extra fitness sessions with highly rated conditioning expert Adam Larcom.
"I wanted to finish off my career really well and leave nothing to chance," Simmonds said.
The problems of last year - an ankle injury followed by a life-threatening blood clot in his lungs -- are long gone.
Simmonds' speed and power have reached new levels.
"I think I can still develop further," he said.
Playing in a game full of elite midfielders can only help that development.
"I was out there today at training hitting the ball down to Sammy Mitchell, Chris Judd, Jimmy Bartel and those kinds of guys. They're just A-grade midfielders," Simmonds said.
"It's going to be a great battle of the midfields."
http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl/story/0,26576,23668212-19742,00.html
