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Opinion
Matt Simon is not only one of the greatest players in A-League history, he’s also the player most likely to lead the Central Coast Mariners to a fairytale run to this season’s finals.
In the same week Cameron Smith belatedly retired from the NRL, it says much about our football discourse that Simon remains one of the A-League’s most misunderstood players.
Smith, the hooker who looked like an accountant and played like a fennec fox, was a master of rugby league’s dark arts.
He also hated losing – something both he and Simon have in common.
But where Smith was lauded as one of the greatest to ever play in the NRL, few critics will bestow that sort of accolade on Simon.
Why? Because they don’t like how he plays.
The elbows. The verbals. The aggression. We saw it all from Smith as a Melbourne Storm player, but it’s Simon who cops the jeers when he gets physical on a football field.
(Photo by Mark Evans/Getty Images)
A key difference between the two is that Smith played on winning teams. Yet I doubt there’d be a single Mariners player who wouldn’t want Simon leading the line for his side.
The Wizard of Woy Woy played the full 90 minutes in Central Coast’s absorbing 2-2 draw with Perth Glory in rain-soaked Gosford, and it’s a good thing he did, because he won and converted the penalty to square things up at the death.
Perth didn’t think it was a penalty. There’s no denying they didn’t have many refereeing decisions go their way on the day.
But Luke Bodnar led with his hands as he tried to head the ball away from Simon, and it looked like a hefty clash of heads as the Mariners striker chested the ball into the air.
Did Simon make the most of the contact? Of course he did. Name a striker in world football who wouldn’t.
But as the 35-year-old stepped up to the spot, he faced a 39-year-old goalkeeper in Liam Reddy, who’s no stranger to Simon’s style.
Yet Simon did what he always does, which is to say he remained composed, didn’t overthink things and simply blasted the spot kick into the bottom right corner.
He’s now scored 62 A-League goals. Not a bad return for a striker many claim can’t play.
Yet Simon’s trademark hustle and bustle overshadowed what was another decent display from Alen Stajcic’s outfit thanks in no small part to excellent performances from Josh Nisbet in midfield and the wily Marco Urena up front.
Costa Rican international Urena has added another dimension to the Mariners’ game play, and he reacted with lightning-quick reflexes to lash home a rebound to open the scoring.
Perth deserve plenty of plaudits of their own for the manner of their fightback, with the always impressive Neil Kilkenny teeing up Bruno Fornaroli for the equaliser before Nick D’Agostino rifled home what looked like the winner.
This is a Glory side that seems more than capable of mounting a charge up the table over the second half of the season.
Just six points separate second-placed Adelaide United from the ninth-placed Glory, and the fact that so many teams are jostling for a top-six position is one of the reasons this season has proved so exciting.
Another is players like Alessandro Diamanti. The Western United playmaker is the yin to Simon’s yang, and the Italian came off the bench to fire over a cross for young striker Dylan Pierias to stoop and head home the winner in United’s 1-0 win over Brisbane Roar.
Fans pay good money to watch players like Diamanti.
But it could be a very different kind of player in Matt Simon who leads his Mariners side into the finals.
If he does, there’s no doubt he should be regarded as one of the greatest competitors to ever grace the A-League.