Eric Simms (rugby league) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Eric Simms

Simms in 2012
Personal information
Full name	Eric John Simms
Born	(1945-08-02) 2 August 1945 (age 80) Karuah, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Position	Fullback, Centre
Club Years Team Pld T G FG P 1965–75 South Sydney 206 23 803 86 1841 1976 Crookwell Total 206 23 803 86 1841 Representative Years Team Pld T G FG P 1968 New South Wales 1 0 6 1 14 1968–70 Australia 8 1 39 3 87 1969 NSW City 1 0 4 1 10
Coaching information
Club Years Team Gms W D L W% 1976–77 Crookwell 1978 La Perouse Total 0 0 0 0

Eric Simms (born August 2, 1945) is a famous Indigenous Australian former professional rugby league player. He is considered one of the best players of the 1900s. Eric mainly played as a fullback but could also play as a centre.

Simms played his entire top-level career for the South Sydney Rabbitohs. With them, he won four major championships. He was also the top point-scorer for four years in a row. In 2008, Eric Simms was chosen as the fullback for the Indigenous Team of the Century.

Eric Simms set many records during his playing days, and some of them are still unbroken. He was especially good at kicking goals. He once kicked five field goals in just eleven minutes during a game in 1969. People say that Eric Simms' amazing kicking skills changed the game of rugby league.

Early Life and School

Eric Simms was born in Karuah, New South Wales on August 2, 1945. He was the oldest son of John (Jack) Simms. His mother was Gwendoline May Cook. Eric and his sister, Beverley, grew up in Karuah. They were raised by their mother and stepfather, Fred Ridgeway. Eric had many brothers and sisters.

Eric went to Karuah Public School. He later attended Raymond Terrace High School. There, his sports teacher, Les Leggatt, taught him how to kick goals.

Playing Career

Simms moved to La Perouse, a suburb in Sydney. He played for the La Perouse Panthers Junior Rugby League Football Club. In 1964, his team won the championship.

In 1965, when he was 19 and working as a truck driver, Eric signed with South Sydney. He played in the centres for Souths in the 1965 Grand Final. His team lost to St George, but Eric scored the last points with a penalty goal.

Eric Simms played 206 first-grade games in total. He helped his team win Grand Finals in 1967, 1968, 1970, and 1971. Throughout his career, he scored an amazing 1,841 points.

In 1969, he broke the record for the most points scored in a season with 265 points. This record was later broken by Mick Cronin. In 1973, Eric also broke the record for the most points scored in an NSWRFL career. His total of 1,841 points was a new record for ten seasons.

Club Records

Eric Simms still holds several important records for the South Sydney club:

• He is second for the most points in a first-grade career with 1,841 points. This includes 23 tries, 803 goals, and 86 field goals.
• He holds the record for the most first-grade points in a single season: 265 points in 1969.
• He has the most goals in a first-grade career: 890.
• He kicked the most goals in a first-grade season: 131 in 1969.
• He kicked the most goals in a single first-grade game: 11 goals. He did this twice in 1969, against Cronulla and against Penrith.

Eric Simms is also fifth on the list for the most first-grade matches played for South Sydney.

World Cups 1968 and 1970

In the 1968 Rugby League World Cup, Eric Simms made history. He became the fourth Aboriginal player to represent Australia in rugby league. He scored 50 points in four games at the 1968 World Cup. This is a record that still stands today.

He also played in the 1970 Rugby League World Cup in England. He scored 37 points in that tournament. The final game in November 1970 was very tough. After Australia won, Eric offered a handshake to an English player, who then head-butted him.

Coaching Career

After the 1975 season, Simms moved to Crookwell, New South Wales. He became the captain-coach there in 1976. However, an arm injury forced him to stop playing at age 31. He continued to coach Crookwell in 1977. Then, he returned to Sydney and coached the La Perouse team in 1978.

Amazing Goal Kicking

Eric Simms is known as one of the greatest goal kickers in Rugby League history.

His teammate, Ron Coote, said that Eric's kicking was due to both talent and hard work. Ron explained that Eric would practice field goals from the halfway line for half an hour, rarely missing.

Eric Simms himself said that kicking in a game was harder than in practice. He mentioned that players would charge at him, and the crowd would boo. He recalled a time when he was hit hard while kicking, but he still watched the ball go through the posts.

People often say that the rule about field goals was changed because of how good Eric was at them. Eric said he didn't fully believe it, but so many people told him it was true that there must be some truth to it.

Awards and Honours

In 2001, Eric Simms was named in the Indigenous Team of the Century. This happened at an event called the Eric Simms Challenge at Redfern Oval. A group of experts chose the team. The event was a way to celebrate all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rugby league players.

Life After League

In 1977, Simms returned to his family home in Chifley, Sydney. He started working on the wharves, which are docks where ships load and unload goods. He worked in this industry for over 30 years. The shift work at Port Botany meant he could no longer coach rugby league. By 1997, he was a foreman at the White Bay wharves. In September 2008, he was living in southern Sydney and working at the Rozelle wharves.

Eric Simms married Charlene, and they have two children. Eric also has three children from his first marriage to Sue.

Images for kids

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  Simms in 2012