Kangas still 'likely' to remove captaincy from Simpkin

Simpkin, despite being contracted until the end of the 2029 season, sought a trade from the Kangaroos during October's trade period.

Citing a desire for more midfield time after being switched to a wing and other roles late last season, the 27-year-old couldn't engineer a trade.

The club's football boss Todd Viney last month said it was unlikely Simpkin would keep the captaincy, a statement echoed by Barlow on Thursday.

"It's not something we have really discussed at length, being November," Barlow told reporters.

"It has been mentioned in passing, in terms of how do we look to manage it and process it.

"It's a bit cliche but each year you go through a process of who are your leaders of your playing group and what pops out of that is who is your captain.

"And full transparency, after the trade period Todd Viney, the footy manager, got up and said that is something we will have to consider and it's probably more unlikely than likely.

"That is on the record and I think Jy, from his point of view, he seems really clear-headed with where he's at right now in terms of the smile on his face, the buzz he has got being around the place.

"So it's probably something that as Todd said, to take his words, is more unlikely than likely.

"But that will give an opportunity to someone else if that is the case."

Simpkin was unlikely to have his wish fulfilled of being deployed mainly in the midfield next season.

"We have got to get out on front of it and acknowledge there was a want or a desire at some point with Jy to seek some other opportunity," Barlow said.

"But that time has passed.

"And pretty quickly he has bounced back in here, acknowledged ... and explained the situation.

"We love Jy; Jy has expressed his love for the club and what it has done for him and where he sits, so he's a Kanga and we're stoked.

"In terms of role, the back-end of last year he played a mixture of roles which we will probably see exactly the same going into next season."

North have won just 20 games in the past six seasons, finishing no higher than 16th on the ladder in that span.