| Personal information | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Born | 2 May 1960 Gooloogong, New South Wales, Australia |
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| Playing information | ||||||
| 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 |
| 1984–88 | New South Wales | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 |
| 1986–87 | Australia | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Coaching information | ||||||
| Club | ||||||
| Years | Team | Gms | W | D | L | W% |
| 1992–94 | Hull | |||||
| 1994–01 | Penrith Panthers | 187 | 77 | 6 | 104 | 41 |
| 2011– | St Helens | |||||
| Total | 187 | 77 | 6 | 104 | 41 | |
| Source: NRL Stats, RLP | ||||||
Royce Simmons (born 2 May 1960 in Gooloogong, New South Wales) is an Australian professional rugby league football coach and former player, currently the head coach of St Helens RLFC in the European Super League.[1] A former 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.
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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.
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.
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 the post-game celebrations, Simmons said he wanted to have a beer with every Penrith supporter.[2][3] Following the grand final victory he travelled with the Panthers to England for the 1991 World Club Challenge which was lost to Wigan.
In October 2004, Simmons was named at hooker in the Panthers' Team of Legends.[4]
Simmons began coaching in 1992 for St Marys reserve grade side. Late that year he moved to England to coach Hull for two seasons.[5][6]
Simmons went on to become Panthers coach in the closing stages of the 1994 NSWRL season after Phil Gould was dismissed, and served for seven seasons until he was himself sacked from the position after the 2001 NRL season, when the Panthers won the wooden spoon.[7] The Panthers made the finals twice under Simmons' tenure, in the 1997 Super League finals and National Rugby League season 2000 finals.
Simmons served as the Wests Tigers assistant coach under his former coach Tim Sheens from 2003 to 2010,[8] during which time they took out the 2005 NRL Premiership. He has also worked as Tim Sheens' assistant coach for the Australian national team.
Simmons was named to take over the coaching position at St Helens in 2011.[9]
| Preceded by Phil Gould 1990-1994 |
Coach Penrith Panthers 1994-2001 |
Succeeded by John Lang 2002-2006 |
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