{"id":35392,"date":"2020-10-21T13:26:15","date_gmt":"2020-10-21T03:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/news\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/"},"modified":"2020-10-21T13:35:59","modified_gmt":"2020-10-21T03:35:59","slug":"persistence-pays-off-for-simpson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/","title":{"rendered":"Persistence pays off for Simpson"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sam Simpson was literally the last player picked for Geelong’s\u00a0AFL<\/span>\u00a0finals campaign.<\/p>\n

In Saturday’s grand final, unless the Cats or Richmond spring a selection shock, the 14-game midfielder will be the least experienced player on the ground.<\/p>\n

“It’s still settling in a bit,” Simpson told AAP.<\/p>\n

“Late in the week it will hit me a bit more.”<\/p>\n

Simpson’s tale has been one of persistence since he was taken with pick 53 in the 2016 rookie draft.<\/p>\n

The 22-year-old has had to fight to be considered for a role in the star-studded\u00a0Geelong<\/span>\u00a0side and didn’t manage a single senior game last year despite performing well enough to win the reserves’ best-and-fairest award.<\/p>\n

“There were definitely frustrations, not that they last too long, but you’re always striving to get into the (AFL<\/span>) team and then play well,” Simpson said.<\/p>\n

“So there’s always those little moments, but you never let that hinder your performance.<\/p>\n

“You get back very quickly to doing what the team needs.”<\/p>\n

When Simpson finally got what looked like his big break this year, playing six matches through July and August, a serious hamstring injury put his finals dreams in doubt.<\/p>\n

The other spanner in the works was a lack of an organised competition like the VFL – which was scrapped this year because of the coronavirus – in which to press his case for a recall once he was fit again.<\/p>\n

But Simpson’s versatility and growing stature at the Cats were recognised when he was picked for the semi-final against Collingwood ahead of hard nut Tom Atkins.<\/p>\n

“Playing in big games, you’ve got to learn quickly, and these last two finals have been the two biggest games I’ve ever played,” Simpson said.<\/p>\n

“It’s been good to get that experience at that level.”<\/p>\n

Simpson’s father, Sean, played 121\u00a0AFL<\/span>-VFL games with St Kilda and\u00a0Geelong<\/span>, and featured in the Cats’ grand final loss to West Coast in 1992.<\/p>\n

The pair spoke soon after the son’s important contribution – 14 disposals and five clearances – in last week’s preliminary final win over Brisbane helped seal the Cats’ progression to their first season decider in nine years.<\/p>\n

“He was super stoked and he was probably getting a bit nervous as well because he knows how the week goes,” Simpson said.<\/p>\n

“There are a lot of people reaching out and a lot of things happening, but he just said to really embrace it because it can be one of the best weeks of your life.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sam Simpson was literally the last player picked for Geelong’s\u00a0AFL\u00a0finals campaign. In Saturday’s grand final, unless the Cats or Richmond spring a selection shock, the 14-game midfielder will be the least experienced player on the ground. “It’s still settling in a bit,” Simpson told AAP. “Late in the week it will hit me a bit […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":170,"featured_media":35393,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"post_folder":[],"class_list":["post-35392","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sport"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nPersistence pays off for Simpson - Bellarine Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Persistence pays off for Simpson - Bellarine Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sam Simpson was literally the last player picked for Geelong’s\u00a0AFL\u00a0finals campaign. In Saturday’s grand final, unless the Cats or Richmond spring a selection shock, the 14-game midfielder will be the least experienced player on the ground. “It’s still settling in a bit,” Simpson told AAP. “Late in the week it will hit me a bit [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Bellarine Times\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-10-21T03:26:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-10-21T03:35:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/Facebook-article-story-8.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"630\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"AAP\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"AAP\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"AAP\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c79183d5a3db7e67489f923ae9bd0ac4\"},\"headline\":\"Persistence pays off for Simpson\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-21T03:26:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-21T03:35:59+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":428,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/Facebook-article-story-8.png\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sport\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/\",\"name\":\"Persistence pays off for Simpson - Bellarine Times\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/Facebook-article-story-8.png\",\"datePublished\":\"2020-10-21T03:26:15+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-10-21T03:35:59+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/Facebook-article-story-8.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2020\\\/10\\\/Facebook-article-story-8.png\",\"width\":1200,\"height\":630,\"caption\":\"Persistence has paid off for Sam Simpson (l), who will play in Saturday's grand final. (Darren England\\\/AAP PHOTOS)\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/sport\\\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Persistence pays off for Simpson\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/\",\"name\":\"Bellarine Times\",\"description\":\"Free local news\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Bellarine Times\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/prod\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/3\\\/2019\\\/08\\\/cropped-logo.png\",\"width\":291,\"height\":38,\"caption\":\"Bellarine Times\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/c79183d5a3db7e67489f923ae9bd0ac4\",\"name\":\"AAP\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/88234bacadf81c5cc628e75a66a024faf16c964823874af241682e13a6d4c33f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/88234bacadf81c5cc628e75a66a024faf16c964823874af241682e13a6d4c33f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/88234bacadf81c5cc628e75a66a024faf16c964823874af241682e13a6d4c33f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"AAP\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\\\/bellarinetimes\\\/author\\\/aapwire\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Persistence pays off for Simpson - Bellarine Times","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Persistence pays off for Simpson - Bellarine Times","og_description":"Sam Simpson was literally the last player picked for Geelong’s\u00a0AFL\u00a0finals campaign. In Saturday’s grand final, unless the Cats or Richmond spring a selection shock, the 14-game midfielder will be the least experienced player on the ground. “It’s still settling in a bit,” Simpson told AAP. “Late in the week it will hit me a bit [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/","og_site_name":"Bellarine Times","article_published_time":"2020-10-21T03:26:15+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-10-21T03:35:59+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":630,"url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/Facebook-article-story-8.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"AAP","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"AAP","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/"},"author":{"name":"AAP","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/c79183d5a3db7e67489f923ae9bd0ac4"},"headline":"Persistence pays off for Simpson","datePublished":"2020-10-21T03:26:15+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-21T03:35:59+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/"},"wordCount":428,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/Facebook-article-story-8.png","articleSection":["Sport"],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/","name":"Persistence pays off for Simpson - Bellarine Times","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/Facebook-article-story-8.png","datePublished":"2020-10-21T03:26:15+00:00","dateModified":"2020-10-21T03:35:59+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/Facebook-article-story-8.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2020\/10\/Facebook-article-story-8.png","width":1200,"height":630,"caption":"Persistence has paid off for Sam Simpson (l), who will play in Saturday's grand final. (Darren England\/AAP PHOTOS)"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/sport\/persistence-pays-off-for-simpson\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Persistence pays off for Simpson"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/#website","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/","name":"Bellarine Times","description":"Free local news","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/#organization","name":"Bellarine Times","url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/cropped-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.timesnewsgroup.com.au\/prod\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2019\/08\/cropped-logo.png","width":291,"height":38,"caption":"Bellarine Times"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/#\/schema\/person\/c79183d5a3db7e67489f923ae9bd0ac4","name":"AAP","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88234bacadf81c5cc628e75a66a024faf16c964823874af241682e13a6d4c33f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88234bacadf81c5cc628e75a66a024faf16c964823874af241682e13a6d4c33f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/88234bacadf81c5cc628e75a66a024faf16c964823874af241682e13a6d4c33f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"AAP"},"url":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/author\/aapwire\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35392","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/170"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35392"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35392\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35393"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35392"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35392"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35392"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/timesnewsgroup.com.au\/bellarinetimes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=35392"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}