Competition for places in Sydney’s front four is so tight that long term fan favourites Alex Brosque and David Carney have had to settle for places on the bench at times, and Bernie Ibini has missed out entirely more often than not this season. This is partly through injuries...but also because Matty Simon – the Wizard of Woy Woy as he is known on the Cove forum – has been in such scintillating form.

The Wizard is now also a bit of a fan favourite, but it wasn’t always like that. When he was first brought in by Arnie the fans were vociferous in their disgust. For most SFC fans, Matt Simon represented everything that was wrong with Australian football. They saw him as a raw-boned bogan who hacked and elbowed his way almost to mediocrity – the absolute antithesis of cultured Bling FC.

And to be fair, that’s exactly how he started out. As a young player begging for a trial at the Mariners, he did not impress in terms of his touch and finishing, but there was one thing Lawrie McKinna liked about him – his unrelenting desire to cause problems for defenders and goalkeepers.

It took him 19 games to get his first goal for the Mariners, but after that he grew in confidence, added touch and intelligence to his natural strength and pace, and improved so much he was picked for Pim Verbeek’s Socceroos and won a lucrative contract in South Korea. Injury stifled that move, but he returned to Australia and, to the horror of the Mariners fans was let go.

To the even greater horror of Sydney fans, Matt Simon signed up for Arnie on the minimum wage for 2015/16. The Cove went into meltdown over the fact that Simon had joined their beloved club. Only Kevin Muscat joining could have upset them more, but it seemed to me that they only remembered the original rough – they didn’t perceive the diamond which had gradually emerged at the Mariners and I knew they’d be turned around if he was given a chance.

It took a while. He didn’t endear himself with weight of goals in his first season (despite a brace in his return to Bluetongue), but he was still extremely effective. It seemed to me Simon’s main role was to charge at defenders and stop them from playing easy balls out. And he was really successful at that. Injuries to other forwards meant Simon played a lot of games (including ACL games) and I lost count of the number of times that Sydney stayed in the match until Matt Simon went off and the pressing stopped. Suddenly opposing teams were finding it easy to pass into midfield and Sydney conceded late goals, but few fans seemed to perceive the nature and quality of his contribution – seeing only his rough house ways without noting the impact on the scoreline while he stayed on the park.

The game’s not just about goals!

But this year, the fans have turned around. A few people were let go as Arnie rejigged his squad and there was some major disapproval in pre-season that Simon wasn’t one of them, but gradually the sheer tenacity, industry, commitment and…dare I say it…quality (so many assists) has finally registered. Matt Simon is cut from different cloth but he’s damn effective, and at last the fans – not least the Cove – have taken him to heart. The Wizard of Woy Woy…the Balrog of Bensville…is now the Iniesta of the Inner West and the fans are even picking him ahead of long term favourites. Matt Simon can always be relied upon to give a full-blooded performance (even disputing tackles and remonstrating with refs from the bench) and The Wizard is now a fixed star in the SFC firmament.

But despite all that, a week out is very likely to cost him if the rest of Arnie’s options click this weekend.

At the very least, I sincerely hope he’s no longer on minimum wage.  

Adrian’s latest book Political Football: Lawrie McKinna’s Dangerous Truth is in the shops right now or available through Booktopia. Adrian also wrote Mr Cleansheets.