DOB: 13 July 1978
Debut: Round 9, 1999 against Carlton at Princes Park
Last MFC Game: Round 22, 2001 against Western Bulldogs at Docklands
From: Wandin/Montrose/Box Hill, Selection #8, 1998 Pre-Season Draft
Number: 46 (1999-2000), 11 (2001)
Honours:
Grand Final team - 2000
Games: 40 (197 total)
Goals: 7 (132 total)
Career Statistics
| Wins | Draws | Losses | Winning % |
| 20 | 0 | 20 | 50.00 |
Simmonds, nicknamed "Snake" due to a reptile collecting hobby, was playing a rare senior match for Box Hill in the last game of the 1998 VFL season when the Demons spotted the 6'7" ruckman and invited him to pre-season training. Earlier in his career he'd been a midfielder, but a growth spurt gave him the size to play in the ruck. He impressed and was selected in the Pre-Season Draft.
Introduced to senior football with five games late in 1999, including the last three of the season, he came into his own in 2000 after being thrown into a more prominent ruck role due to Jeff White suffering a number injuries Simmonds made it to the 2000 Grand Final team but was knocked unconscious by a cynical Michael Long bump and was carried from the ground in a neckbrace after the hit. Long was suspended for four matches and later publicly apologised for the hit.
His start to 2001 was delayed by a broken bone in his right ankle incurred during the last quarter of the Ansett Cup loss to Richmond, and when he came back he was forced to play second fiddle to White again. Frustrated with being a backup, Simmonds was traded to Fremantle as part of the deal that took Craig Ellis to the Demons at the end of that year.
At Fremantle he played 64 of a total of 67 games in his three years, including the Dockers first ever final and started to play more often as a forward. In 2005 Simmonds joined Richmond on a lucrative five year contract, and despite playing 86 games for them over five years he never played finals with them before retiring from AFL football midway through the 2010 season.
In 2011 Simmonds was captain/coach of Montrose in the Eastern Football League.
| Year | Games | Goals | Brownlow |
| 1999 | 5 | 2 | 0 |
| 2000 | 22 | 3 | 0 |
| 2001 | 13 | 2 | 0 |
Media
Age - 10/02/1999
Age - 06/05/2000
Herald Sun - 27/02/2001
Links
AFL Yarra Ranges
Australian Football Wiki profile
Draftguru profile
melbfc.com.au profile - 2001
Tigerland Archive profile
Website
Wikipedia profile