FOR quite a few Blues, today marks the second day of their first ever AFL pre-season camp. For Kade Simpson, it’s his 17th pre-season campaign.  

The 34-year-old told 1116 SEN despite his long run, he hadn’t dropped standards.

“Running-wise, I’ve stayed pretty similar. I worked hard over the break to maintain that sort of stuff,” the defender said.

Simpson, who in 2018 marked the 300-game milestone and placed second in the John Nicholls Medal, said he still found enjoyment in football. 

“[The prospect of a new season] still excited me. Maybe when I was younger it was a little bit of a grind, but as I’ve got older I’ve warmed to the idea and enjoyed the hard work and the grind of pre-season,” he said.

“I count myself lucky that I’ve been in the game for as long as I have. I’d much rather be kicking the footy around with some mates and working hard on the track than digging trenches or something like that.”

Simpson said he was optimistic about his 17th season at Carlton, with the side putting in the hard yards throughout the pre-season. 

“All the work that I see the boys doing and the amount of effort we are putting in – I hope that translates on the field."

You can see how the hard work has paid off when Carlton clashes with its two traditional rivals, Essendon and Collingwood, during the 2019 JLT series. For more details and to purchase tickets to the matches, click here.