Simmo settles in
11:07:34 AM Thu 29 December, 2005
Jason Phelan
Sportal for afl.com.au
You speak to Troy Simmonds these days and you quickly get the impression that he has a lot more balance in his life - both on and off the field.
He's settled back into hometown Melbourne, he's started his own mortgage-broking business and, for the first time in a long time, he has a clear vision of what he wants to accomplish in football and how he's going to achieve it.
He's fit - having had a rotator cuff cleaned out at season's end - but, perhaps most importantly, he's dispelled the demons of expectation that came with the Tigers' hefty five-year investment in him.
"For me coming back and playing footy in Melbourne was what I wanted to do, I came back to be with family and I've really settled down with the club," Simmonds says after completing his first season at Punt Road after three years at Fremantle.
"I came over here with the whole five-year deal thing and I put a bit of pressure on myself a bit too early in the year and I thought my form was a bit up and down as a result. I played some good games, but the consistency wasn't there.
"I finished off the year in the ruck and played reasonable footy there, that's more of the plan for this year, so I'm looking forward to that."
It's this ever so slight change in job description that has Simmonds in such a positive frame of mind - he's a ruckman that can go forward, not a forward that can ruck. He has trimmed down from 105 kilograms to 99 over the course of the year and his training regime is now tailored to get him in the right shape to fulfill the mobile big-man role.
He spends less time in the weights room and more time out on the track where running and speed-work are the focus. He's even doing one session a week with Victorian sprinter Adam Basil who was a part of the Australian 4 x 100 metre relay team that finished sixth at the Athens Olympics.
In an era of full-time professional footballers, Simmonds is the exception to the rule with his involvement in his own small business. Tigers' fans need not worry though, he has a partner to look after the day-to-day operations, but he says the opportunity to focus on something other than footy once in a while helps keep him balanced.
"I'm still learning the ropes as far as mortgage finance is concerned, but I got through all of my accreditations," he says.
"It's definitely a pathway for me for when I do finish footy, but I'm hoping to build it up while I'm still playing. I find during the season at different times I get a bit of time to concentrate on it."
Simmonds admits to being very goal-oriented, and while he's happy to discuss team objectives, his personal goals and motivations are not for public consumption.
"I think we've got a team that can certainly make the finals this year and I just want to be a part of that," he says.
"I've got my own individual goals, but I like to keep them to myself. I know what my goals are and I think about them all the time.
"The one thing I really wanted to do was finish off the season well and I think that's going to have me feeling pretty confident when the season starts - I can't wait."
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