Troy Simmonds (born 13 July 1978) is a former Australian rules footballer who played for Melbourne, Fremantle and Richmond in the Australian Football League.

Troy Simmonds
Simmonds in May 2011
Personal information
Full name Troy Simmonds
Date of birth (1978-07-13) 13 July 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth Melbourne, Australia
Original team(s) Box Hill (VFL)
Draft No. 9, 1999 pre-season draft:
Melbourne
Height 197 cm (6 ft 6 in)
Weight 99 kg (218 lb)
Position(s) Ruck / forward
Club information
Current club Richmond
Number 5
Playing career1
Years Club Games (Goals)
1999 – 2001 Melbourne 040 00(7)
2002 – 2004 Fremantle 064 0(59)
2005 – 2010 Richmond 093 0(66)
Total 197 (132)
Representative team honours
Years Team Games (Goals)
2008 Victoria (state) Victoria 1 (0)
1 Playing statistics correct to the end of 2010.
Career highlights
Sources: AFL Tables, AustralianFootball.com

AFL career

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Melbourne: 1999 – 2001

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Simmonds was first drafted by Melbourne in the 1999 pre-season draft. He played only five 5 games in 1999 but then played 22 in 2000, including the Grand Final, during which he was carried from the field on a stretcher following a head-on charge by Essendon's Michael Long.[1]

Fremantle: 2002 – 2004

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In 2002 he was traded to Fremantle as part of a three way trade that included Daniel Bandy moving to the Western Bulldogs and Craig Ellis moving to Melbourne.[2] This was seen as a chance for Simmonds to become Fremantle's main ruckman, as opposed to being Jeff White's understudy at Melbourne.[citation needed] In three seasons at Fremantle Simmonds played in 64 out of a possible 67 games, including Fremantle's first ever finals game in 2003.

Richmond: 2005 – 2010

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At the end of the 2004 season, Simmonds was traded back to Victoria, again in a three-way deal, with Heath Black returning to Fremantle, Aaron Fiora moving to St Kilda and Simmonds moving to Richmond.[3] In a move surprising to many, Simmonds signed a five-year deal with the Tigers, as opposed to the usual two or three-year contracts.[4] After a serviceable first year with Richmond, Simmonds played some of the best football of his career in 2006 - taking several big marks and scoring several goals up forward.[citation needed] At the end of 2009 Simmonds signed a one-year contract for the 2010 season.[5] Prior to Round 10, 2010, Simmonds announced his retirement.[6]

References

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  1. ^ Short, Paul (2 September 2000). "Essendon crash Melbourne's party". The Independent. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
  2. ^ Lovett, Michael, ed. (2002). AFL 2002. Melbourne, Victoria: AFL Publishing. p. 333. ISBN 0-9580300-0-6.
  3. ^ Greenberg, Tony (9 October 2012). "Top 20 Tiger trade pick-ups: No. 19". Richmond Football Club. Retrieved 21 October 2012.
  4. ^ Simmonds deserves more credit: Wallace; The Age; 16 February 2006
  5. ^ Smith, Patrick & Denham, Greg (3 July 2009) Sheedy's new pitch welcomed; The Australian
  6. ^ "Simmonds hangs up boots". Herald Sun. News Corp Australia. 27 May 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2017.
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