From the emotion of commemorating his late grandfather to the joy of having the most fun he’s had on a footy field, Jy Simpkin’s afternoon at Optus Stadium had it all.

The North Melbourne midfielder was bestowed the Polly Farmer Medal as best afield after leading from the front in the Indigenous All Stars’ comprehensive win over Fremantle.

Simpkin’s day included game highs of 30 touches and 10 tackles, but it was a third-term goal that produced the day’s most touching moment. The 26-year-old pointed to the sky to celebrate his Pop before being consoled by teammates after heading to the bench.

“It’s pretty special,” Simpkin said of the goal after the game.

“My Pop passed away just over Christmas, and one of the last things he said was, “When you kick your first goal, make sure you give me a thumbs-up’.

“So that’s a pretty special moment.”

Simpkin won the Farmer Medal from former teammate Jason Horne-Francis, earning best-on-ground votes from three of the four judges.

Having celebrated just 15 wins in 79 games over the past four seasons at North, Simpkin was thrilled to get the chance to soak in a victory. But he said the joy of being able to line up alongside his fellow Indigenous stars in the return of the concept for the first time in a decade meant the result was secondary to the connection and brotherhood he felt this week in Perth.

“It was so fun. I can’t remember enjoying football that much,” he said.

“We’ve spent the past couple of days together, and the connection we’ve built in such a short period of time... it was super exciting and super fun.

“Even just sitting on the bench and watching the boys run and carry and move the footy... it was awesome.”

Simpkin said he had been proud of his team being able to band together in such a short space of time and achieve their goal of what they were aiming to produce on the field.

“We knew wanted to play with speed, play with flair and show our skill,” Simpkin said.

“You probably would have seen the connection and bond we had out there. Everything we could have asked for, we went out and did.”