Royce Simmons

Born in the country town of Gooloogong near Cowra, Simmons was a Country U’16s RU rep (touring Tasmania as a halfback). He played first grade rugby league for both Cowra and Canowindra as a teenager before coming to Sydney and trialling with both St George (1979) and Souths (1980). Simmons finally earned a contract with Penrith after being recommended to Panthers coach Len Stacker by former P’matta team-mate, international centre Barry Rushworth. After making his first grade debut in 1980, he played lock for much of 1981 before snaring the top hooker spot from Jim Jones in 1981. Taking over as captain in 1983, Simmons was consistently one of Penrith's best players during the club's ‘easy-beats’ days. He won his first NSW jersey in 1984 (after originally being overlooked in favour of NSW Country’s Rex Wright) and two years later, became the first Penrith player to represent Australia. In 1986 Simmons bounced back from a heavy knock to win the man-of-the-match award in the first State of Origin match in Brisbane and NSW’s 3-0 series win guaranteed him a spot in the Australian Test team. He made his ‘green and gold’ debut against NZ at Carlaw Park - the first of 10 Test appearances over the next year including all six Tests on the Kangaroo Tour. His final Test was the 13-6 loss to NZ in 1987 after retaining his NSW spot despite being snubbed by Country Origin selectors. After being dropped from the NSW side in 1988, Simmons was overlooked for further rep honours. At Penrith he maintained a battle against injury to retain his first grade position but after leading the club to their first grand final (a loss to Canberra in 1990) he was relieved of the club captaincy by Panthers coach Phil Gould. Simmons struggled through much of his last season but exited the game triumphantly with two incredible tries in the 19-12 grand final against the Raiders to capture the Panthers' first premiership. He went to English Club Hull to start his coaching career and it was almost fate that he was back in Australia and ready to take over from Phil Gould toward the end of the 1994 season. Simmons coached Penrith to the semi-finals in 1997’s Super League season, and again in 2000, but ultimately paid the price for showing loyalty to his players during the club’s disastrous 2001 season. A laconic, laid-back character with a dry wit, Simmons steadfastly refused to blame his players for the team’s poor showing– supporting long-serving captain Steve Carter’s when his form wavered and persevering with Craig Gower as hooker so that the young rake could make the Kangaroo Tour. Despite refraining from publicly criticising the club’s failure to buy new players, Simmons was released from the remaining two years of his contract when the club finished with the wooden spoon. In 2003 he linked with former Penrith team-mate and first grade coach, Tim Sheens, at the W’Tigers. Autobiography: Hooked on League (2001).