AFL 2024: North Melbourne captain Jy Simpkin declares the club is ‘sick of losing’, makes pledge for change

‘Everyone is sick of’ losing at Arden Street – and co-captain Jy Simpkin says the time for change has finally come. But can the young Roos walk the walk?

Cellar dweller North Melbourne is “sick of losing” as co-captain Jy Simpkin pledges a new attitude can help the Roos finally climb up the ladder.

The Roos have finished in the bottom two in each of the last four seasons and won just 12 combined matches, a barren run the club has not experienced since its first years in the VFL in the 1920s and 30s.

Only and upset win over Gold Coast in round 24 last year saw North Melbourne avoid a third-consecutive wooden spoon.

Jy Simpkin and Luke Davies-Uniacke push through pre-season. Picture: Michael Klein

While the TAB has the Roos as a $2.50 favourite to cop the most losses in 2024, Simpkin said his team had hit pre-season on a mission to shake off their recent form.

“I think everyone on the list is sick of being where we are,” he said.

“We have been in the bottom few for three, four, five years. Everyone is sick of it. The change in mindset, everyone is working a lot harder.

“We have a lot of players who are sick of being where we are. We have had a couple of (assistant) coaches come in and they don’t want to be at the bottom either … the whole club is sick of being at the bottom, we want to make change.”

Coach Alastair Clarkson has bought into the shift and the players have been thrown random fitness tests to build their resilience throughout summer.

Former Brisbane Lions assistant Jed Adcock moved south to join the Roos before pre-season.

Adcock was on hand as Chris Fagan turned the Lions from a battler to a premiership contender.

Jed Adcock has a chat with Alastair Clarkson. Picture: Michael Willson/AFL Photos

While he labelled the North Melbourne list as “a little inexperienced and thin”, Adcock backed the attitude of the players to lead a resurgence.

“I couldn’t question the player’s attitude so far during the pre-season, it has been second to none and I think there is a really strong belief and hope that we can push our way back up the ladder,” he said.

Dynamic midfielder Tarryn Thomas has begun joining more football drills after minor groin surgery slowed down his pre-season.

Defender Griffin Logue is still targeting a mid-season return from an ACL injury but he showed his fitness levels by finishing seventh in the club’s 2km time trial on Monday, with Simpkin the winner.