The 33-year-old is a father of two - soon to be three - and co-coaching a Myrtleford side which is expected to compete right at the top end of the Ovens and Murray this season.

But it's not the Saints' premiership credentials which are chiefly fuelling Simpson's enthusiasm for life in the Victorian High Country. Far from it.

"At the core, I've really thought about what good leadership is," he said.

"I spoke to some good mates of mine and what I landed on is that being a leader is serving.

"The good leaders I see, who have coached me and been influential in my life, were servants to the club and to their players.

"It's not a dictatorship, it's the other way.

"You're serving a greater purpose than yourself and when you see that you're getting more out of others than you are trying to yourself, that's the fulfilment I find and that's what I really love about coaching.

"If I can see a difference in a young kid who's doing something I've tried to implement with him and it's making a positive change in him, that's where the enjoyment factor comes for me."

The former Geelong and GWS Giants player experienced the soaring highs which only top-level sport can offer but there are certainly no regrets about his decision to retire in 2019.

"To be honest, I've never been happier," Simpson said.

"I've got a six-year-old daughter, a three-year-old son and we've got one on the way.

"My wife and I are settled, we've got family around us, our little girl's going to school in Porepunkah and I couldn't be happier in terms of where we've landed and how we've got on with life after football.

"At AFL level, you spend more time with your team-mates than you do your family. It's just the nature of the beast.

"From playing to weights and taking showers, every part of your life, you're with them, so that's the biggest change to get used to, that I'm coming into work, life and football is now the third thing on that list."

The change of scenery, as much as the change of lifestyle, has impacted Simpson in a big way.

ALSO IN SPORT

"I never really, and I still don't, want to coach at any higher level than this," Simpson said.

"This has got a lot of meaning to me and the people and the community, how engaged they are, make it worthwhile.

"It's been a good couple of years to get to know the group, especially through COVID times.

"We've had to really gel tightly together and get to know each other, which has been really good for me.

"I've got a lot of respect for the boys around this club and also how engaged it is in the community.

"We understand that if someone can't make training or there's something happening in their life, that football's not the most important thing.

"That's something I really enjoy about it, actually, even as far as being a part of a football club is not all about winning, it's not all about being the absolute best every single time, it's much more than that.

"It's much more fulfilling than just winning.

"The boys understand that, we engage in the community in the good years and certainly the bad years and the boys have a deep connection with Myrtleford and the surrounding community.

"The local boys, who have been there since they were juniors, are hungrier than ever and they're the guys who are really pushing the standards at training and making it an enjoyable and hard-working place.

"But there's more to it and that's something I've enjoyed.

"It's not all about sheep stations, it's not absolutely everything on the line each game.

"At AFL level, there's an extremely high expectation to be performing at a level and obviously every team's out there to win the premiership and while we certainly strive for that, it's not everything.

"It is an excellent thing to be at the pinnacle of a sport, surrounded by professional people striving to get better and making you better on the process.

"But you're pouring so much energy into pulling together as a team and trying to win each week that you almost forget about how it is just a game.

"There are more important things in life than football."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: