NRL 2020: Wests Tigers teen Jake Simpkin a rising star of rugby league
He’s been dubbed one of the rising stars of the NRL and teenager and Wests Tigers recruit Jake Simpkin is determined to live up to the hype.
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He’s only young, misses his family, his mum’s crumbed chicken, his old school mates and not having to do his own laundry.
But 18-year-old Jake Simpkin is forging ahead creating a new life and career for himself in Sydney.
Big things are being predicted for this teenager enticed to Sydney from his family home in Toowoomba by the Wests Tigers under the nose of the Brisbane Broncos.
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And with some help from good mates and old housemates Reece Hoffman and Jock Madden, Simpkin is finding his place in his new world.
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“It is it so helpful. We are in the same situation, all trying to get a break,” said Simpkin, rated one of the best young dummy halves in the country.
“We have the same ambitions and goals. If I got too cocky they’d tell me.”
The development player, who spent four years in the Broncos’ development system as a Wynnum Manly junior, is one of the rising stars of the hooking position.
But it wasn’t where he originally played.
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“I started as a fullback,” Simpkin said.
“Then one of my junior coaches said have a crack at hooker.
“I just clicked in that position straight away and in under 14s and in under 15s I made my first Queensland teams and I signed my first contract with the Broncos at 15.
“It just felt natural. I was playing better footy. I felt like I fit. It felt natural.”
What is a little strange, however, is the fact Simpkin ended up with the Wests Tigers.
“Broncos were always my team, and the Cowboys because I loved JT (Johnathan Thurston),” he said.
“When I was younger I wanted to play for the Broncos. Now it’s the Tigers. I love it here.
“You just have to take the opportunities when they present.”
The Tigers this week returned to training for the first time since the NRL was suspended due to Covid-19 on March 23 following the first two rounds of the competition.
The NRL competition return is planned for later this month with up to eight matches a week.