Royce Simmons

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Royce Simmons
Personal information
Born	5 February 1960 (1960-02-05) (age 49)
	Gooloogong, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	86 kg (13 st 8 lb)
Height	173 cm (5 ft 8 in)
Weight	86 kg (13 st 8 lb)
Position	Hooker
Club
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1980–1991	Penrith Panthers	233	15	1	3	61
Representative
Years	Team	Pld	T	G	FG	P
1984–1988	New South Wales	10	1	0	0	4
1986–1987	Australia	10	0	0	0	0
Coaching information
Club
Years	Team	Gms	W	D	L	W%
1994–2001	Penrith Panthers	187	77	6	104	41
Source: NRL Stats, RLP

Royce Simmons (born 2 May, 1960 in Gooloogong, New South Wales) is an Australian former rugby league footballer and coach. A test hooker, New South Wales representative and long-serving Penrith Panthers player in the New South Wales Rugby League premiership, he later became coach of the club after his retirement.

Contents 1 Biography 1.1 Playing career 1.2 Representative career 1.3 Coaching career 2 References 3 Footnotes 4 External links

[edit] Biography

[edit] Playing career

After trialling with both St. George and Souths, Simmons was eventually given a contract in 1980 with Penrith. Simmons played much of his first year at lock but was moved to hooker late in the 1981 season.

In 1983, Simmons was appointed captain of the team, a position he retained until 1990 when he captained the Panthers in the 1990 Grand Final loss to the Canberra Raiders. Despite struggling with injuries, he memorably scored two tries in the 1991 Grand Final against the same opponents. The Panthers won their first premiership, and Simmons retired.

In October 2004, Simmons was named at hooker in the Panthers' Team of Legends.^[1]

[edit] Representative career

Simmons was first selected to represent New South Wales as a hooker for games II and III of the 1984 State of Origin series, replacing Rex Wright who had been chosen for game I.

A successful 1986 series against Queensland, including a Man of the Match in game I, secured Simmons a place as the first Penrith player to represent Australia. He made his debut against New Zealand in July 1986 and played in ten international games over the next year. Simmons' final test appearance came in Australia at Lang Park against New Zealand, losing 6–13.

Simmons was selected for all games of the 1987 State of Origin series, including the fourth game held in Long Beach, California, U.S.A. His last appearance in a New South Wales jersey was in game I of the 1988 series, losing 18–26.

[edit] Coaching career

Simmons went on to become Panthers coach in the closing stages of the 1994 season after Phil Gould was dismissed, and served until he was himself sacked from the position after the 2001 season, when the Panthers won the wooden spoon.^[2] The Panthers made the finals twice under Simmons' tenure, in the 1997 Super League finals and National Rugby League season 2000 finals.

Since 2003, Simmons has served as the assistant coach at the Wests Tigers under his former coach Tim Sheens.^[3]

[edit] References

• Whiticker, Alan and Hudson, Glen (2007). The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players. Wetherill Park, New South Wales: Gary Allen Pty Ltd. p. 609. ISBN 9781877082931. 
• Gary Lester (editor) (1983). The Sun Book of Rugby League - 1983. Sydney, New South Wales: John Fairfax Marketing. p. 72. ISBN 0909558833. 

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• Royce Simmons at the Rugby League Project
• Royce Simmons (player) at NRL Stats
• Royce Simmons (coach) at NRL Stats

Preceded by Phil Gould 1990-1994

Coach Penrith Panthers 1994-2001

Succeeded by John Lang 2002-2006

v • d • e Penrith Panthers squad - 1991 NSWRL Premiers (1st Title) 1 Greg Barwick • 2 Graham Mackay • 3 Brad Fittler • 4 Col Bentley • 5 Paul Smith • 6 Steve Carter • 7 Greg Alexander (c)  • 8 Paul Clarke • 9 Royce Simmons • 10 Paul Dunn • 11 Mark Geyer • 12 Barry Walker • 13 Colin van der Voort  • 14 John Cartwright • 15 Brad Izzard  • Coach: Phil Gould