Eric Simms

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Eric Simms (born 1945 in Newcastle, New South Wales, Australia) was an Australian Aboriginal rugby league player. His position of choice was at fullback although he could also play as a centre. Simms played his entire first grade career for South Sydney in the New South Wales rugby league competition.

[edit] Playing career

South Sydney goal kicking legend Eric Simms

Simms attended school in Raymond Terrace, before moving to La Perouse in Sydney, where he signed for South Sydney in 1965. That year, Souths reached the grand final, with Simms playing in the centres.

Simms went on to play 206 first grade games, scoring a total of 1,843 career points. In 1969, Simms broke the record for the most points scored in a premiership season with 265, previously held by Dave Brown of Eastern Suburbs.

In the 1968 Rugby League World Cup, Simms gained the distinction of becoming the fourth Aboriginal to represent Australia in rugby league. He scored 50 points in four games at the 1968 World Cup, a record which still stands today. He played in the 1970 World Cup in England two years later and scored 37 points in total.

Simms is one of the game's greatest exponent of the field goal. He holds the record for the most number of field goals in one season (1969, with 19) and most in a single match (1970, with 5). It has been suggested that his proficiencies at field goals partly led to the decision to change the value of a field goal from two to one point in 1971¹. Simms left South Sydney in 1976 to join the New South Wales country side Crookwell, and retired from rugby league after one season.