Simpson mulls over move back to Sharks
Former Docker Josh Simpson is weighing up a return to East Fremantle for the latter half of the season in the hopes of reigniting his AFL career.
Simpson, delisted by the Dockers last year, turned his back on the Sharks earlier this year in favour of a player-coach role at Great Northern Football League club Mullewa, based about 100km from his home town of Yalgoo.
However the 2012 first-round draft pick has in recent weeks been speaking to the GNFL club about a mid-season move back to Perth to finish the year in the WAFL.
East Fremantle football manager Darry Fry said all reports indicated Simpson had made improvements on and off the field in the short time he has been back in the State’s mid-west.
He said the Sharks would welcome him back with open arms, but wanted the 21-year-old to make the best long-term decision for himself and his family.
“He hasn’t contacted us yet, we’ve just been talking with the Mullewa club president,” Fry said.
“They don’t want him to go because of what he’s done for them, but they won’t stand in the way.
“We’d obviously love to have him back but it might be good for him to stick out a full season up there.
“He seems to be doing a really good job. It might be the most beneficial thing he’s done.”
Simpson played nine league matches for the Sharks in his first year on Fremantle’s list before moving to Peel as part of the club’s alignment.
He made his debut for the Dockers in round 23, 2013, and played one further game before being suspended by the club for failing to turn up for a flight as the team’s travelling emergency.
In incident sparked a downward spiral which saw Simpson placed on an enforced leave of absence, eventually being cut by the club with one year remaining on his contract.
Mullewa president Peter Sweeney said Simpson first approached him about a return to Perth more than a month ago.
He said the club would be prepared to let him go, but believed there would be plenty gained by delaying the move to next season.
“I think there’s been interest at times from AFL clubs but there’s still things that Josh needs to work on to get back into that system and get a second chance,” Sweeney said.
“We’re not going to stop him if he wants to go, because I don’t think that would work to the benefit of all concerned.
“We had a really good pre-season with him and we’ve only lost one game and that was by a straight kick, so we’re pretty happy about that.
“We wouldn’t stop him but he has to do what’s best for him.”
