- Eric Simms
.
Playing career
Eric 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, he broke the record for the most points scored in a premiership season with 265, previously held by Dave Brown of Eastern Suburbs. He held the record until broken by Mick Cronin over a decade later.
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 the1970 World Cup in England two years later and scored 37 points in total.Simms was one of the game's greatest exponents 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.Accolades
In August, 2008, Simms was named at fullback in the "Indigenous Team of the Century". [cite news|publisher="ABC News"|title=Modern stars join greats in Indigenous Team of Century |url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/08/09/2329969.htm |accessdate=2008-08-10|date=
2008-08-09 ]Footnotes
References
* cite book | author=Malcolm Andrews |title=ABC of Rugby League |year=1992
publisher="ABC Enterprises" |location=Sydney, New South Wales
isbn=0733301762 |pages=page 1
* cite book | author=Alan Whiticker & Glen Hudson |title=The Encyclopedia of Rugby League Players |year=2007
publisher="Gary Allen Pty Ltd" |location=Wetherill Park, New South Wales |isbn=9781877082931 |pages=page 503External links
* [http://www.eraofthebiff.com/p84a.html Eric Simms at eraofthebiff.com]
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