Brad Fisher has much in common with Kade Simpson, and it’s not just the facial follicles.
 
Turn back the hands to National Draft Day 2002, when the softly-spoken teenagers  were both taken from Eastern Ranges by Carlton in that ballot  – “Simmo” at  45, “Fish” at 72.

 Co-incidentally, Eastern’s Nick Malceski also had his name called by Sydney at selection 64.
 
On Saturday night, in what is the First Semi-Final between the two teams, Malceski turns out for game No.150 for the Swans, with Simpson notching game No.200 for the Mighty Blues.
 
Fisher, himself a fine servant for Carlton in 99 senior appearances from 2003-2010, is committed to another football engagement in Wonthaggi on Saturday and is unable to be there for the evening’s much-anticipated eliminator in Sydney’s inner-west.
 
But he took the liberty of paying the following tribute to his old friend - Carlton’s little big man - on the eve of Simpson’s history-making appearance in the No.6 guernsey.


I first met “Simmo” at Eastern Ranges. He came down midway through our bottom-age year of Under 18s and I didn’t know a hell of a lot about him. First impressions were of a skinny little kid who wore long sleeves. He probably played a handful of games in his first year and he didn’t say a lot. 

I remember in our top-age year that an intra-club practice match was held up at Healeseville. I saw him pick up the ball across half-forward, do his usual little shimmy then run on and kick a goal from 45 out on a pretty tight angle. When that happened I turned to a couple of teammates and said ‘He’ll get drafted’ . . . and he hasn’t looked back since. That was because he had all the attributes that were going to make him a very good AFL player.
 
Simmo was very, very shy when he first came to Eastern Ranges, but it only took five minutes to break his shyness down a little bit. It’s fair to say that he still hides behind his shy persona, but around the boys he’s a clown. He’s really knockabout.
 
Although he and I were both taken in that same draft of 2002, we weren’t together on draft day. I happened to be at the home of another player, Stevie Dinnell, who went on to play in three Premierships for North Ballarat, and I really didn’t expect to be drafted.
 
I heard Simmo’s name get called for Carlton and I rang him to say ‘Well done’. About half an hour later, a bit further down the draft pecking order, my name got called and he rang me to say ‘We’re teammates’.
 
From that day on we’ve been best of friends.
 
I’ve got plenty on Simmo, but you know what? - he’s in my bridal party in a month or so from now, so I can’t dish the dirt. He’s certainly got plenty of cheek and plenty of go around the boys, but I’ll leave it at that.
 
The fact that both of us were drafted to Carlton made it a bit easier for us. We were both reasonably shy guys at 17 or 18, so we had that safety net of eachother. We could both get to and from training together because he lived in Emerald and me in Wantirna. He used to drive his Mum’s car to my place and then we’d drive on to Carlton - taking about an hour and a half to plough through the Melbourne traffic and talk all things footy. Then we’d train and do it all again on the drive home.
 
Everyone knows that in his first year at Carlton Simmo played a couple of games without getting a touch and he started to get a bit nervous. I remember we had a chat and he wondered where he was at.

Not long after, Denis (the then Carlton coach Denis Pagan) ran a full ground drill and Simmo got the ball at half-back in the wet and ended up kicking a goal. All the boys got around him then, and I knew that while he hadn’t had the fairytale first game or two he was going to be a good player for a long time.
 
He and Nick Malceski are sporting beards thesedays, but I’d like to think I was the trendsetter. I remember Denis Pagan telling me that a man with a beard was hiding something, and not long after, Tony Elshaug saying to me: “Mate, if Denis is telling you to have it off make sure you don’t do it because you don’t want him to think of you as a yes man”.
 
Simmo’s courage was always evident. In fact, when I think back to those first couple of games at Eastern, though I wasn’t immediately sure he’d make the grade I knew he was brave . . . and at the time he weighed in at only 50 kilos dripping wet. I really shouldn’t say this, but I look at him now and still wonder how he’s got through without injury. True, he’s had a lot of luck, but he’s also prepared very well and reaped the rewards.

He’s been such a reliable player and a fan favourite because he’s always cracked in, even in those early years when we weren’t going so well. He gave it everything then as he still does now. He’s got this great reputation for playing well at Carlton, of giving everything in a big game, particularly when the chips are down, and he absolutely loves that dark Navy Blue jumper that he wears.
 
I’m very proud of Simmo that he’s playing his 200th game this week - and it wouldn’t surprise me if he plays his 300th four or five years from now.
 
I wish that I was firstly still playing with Simmo and secondly over there with him on Saturday night, but I’ll give him a call before the game to wish him all the best and to tell him that I’m proud of him.
 
To be honest I’ll probably get a bit emotional. He and I started the journey together when we were 16 and he’s still giving everything he’s got for the footy club I also love.