NRL final 024, Royce Simmons Face to Face, Penrith Panthers, Mark Geyer, Nathan Cleary, Panthers vs Sharks

Panthers legend Royce Simmons is widely regarded as one of the best players in rugby league.

And if you listen to his conversation with Yvonne Sampson on Fox League’s Face to Face, it’s easy to understand why.

From captaining Penrith to their first premiership to run-ins with the French mafia and his recent battles off the pitch, Simmons shows why he is so highly regarded as one of the game’s true good guys.

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A CLEANER WITH ALL OF YOU

Growing up in the New South Wales town of Goloogong, Simmons made the journey to the big smoke, tasting for both the Dragons and Rabbitohs before signing for Penrith in 1980.

And his famously devilish sense of humor was on display from the start when the then 21-year-old lied about how old he was by shaving a year off his age when he joined the club.

In the same vein as some of his bushfooty counterparts, Simmons thought the extra year would pay off at the end of his career – which it certainly did.

“That extra year got me a grand final,” Simmons told Fox League’s Face to Face.

Simmons is of course referring to the win over Canberra in the 1991 grand final, which was appropriately his last ever match.

He scored two memorable tries in the match before, as Cubs captain, he delivered one of the greatest post-match speeches of all time after leading the Panthers to their first premiership.

“I just don’t really know what to say, this is a bloody dream or something,” said Simmons as he collected the premiership trophy.

“It’s just a sensational feeling and to all the Panthers supporters, I’ll have a schooner with you one day, thank you.”

And people have been asking for a beer with him ever since.

“Yeah, it happens every day, if you go out it happens three or four times, everyone is always good at it,” said Simmons.

“The joke is that I changed the rules and now I say, ‘I spent all my money, now you have to buy me one.’

“I get to share that (premiership victory) every day just walking around Penrith. I’m constantly reminded of it and I enjoy it. People say to me, ‘Sorry to annoy you’, when I take a photo I say ‘you don’t annoy me’ – that’s the best thing that ever happened.

“I’m like, ‘Why are you sorry?’ I’m damn happy to have my picture taken with someone, and they walk up to me and I’m like, ‘how the hell do you know who I am?’

MG AND THE FRENCH MAFIA

Like most ex-players from his era, Simmons has some stories to tell, including a run-in with the French mafia.

In France, during an end-of-season trip with Penrith, Simmons said he, Mark Geyer (MG) and his teammates encountered some trouble during an evening drink.

“Oh, I can’t go there with the MG stories,” Simmons said before being urged by Sampson to spill the dirt.

“We went over there (France) to play some football and Ron Willey was coach at Penrith at the time and coached New South Wales when we won the series 3-0 and Ron loved taking rugby league to a place where it was a bit of a struggle. ”Simmons said.

“So he took us, he said he just wanted to go to France for the end of year trip and everyone said ‘oh yeah, we’re all going’.

“So we got there and we had our first practice and I pulled a hamstring. Ronny came by and I said, ‘Ron, I tore my hamstring really bad.’ He said ‘well done mate’. So he was happy that I was pulling – he knew I was getting old.

Then problems arose.

“Anyway, we got there and went into a pub. We didn’t know it, but the mafia in the city was real. Someone got into a fight,” Simmons said.

“The French all joined in and they came kicking at us and we turned a bit blue.

“And they let a dog loose on us and yet someone shouted ‘run, run!’ I said ‘don’t run, don’t run’. I was the slowest.

“So this guy comes down, he pushes MG in the chest once and I’m like ‘oh, don’t do that’. He pushes him again, so that’s two and he went for a third push. MG left. MG cleaned them all and we got in the car and went home.

BATTLE OFF THE FIELD

In 2022, Simmons revealed the devastating news that he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease.

And after initially being knocked for six, the former Blues and Kangaroos hooker set about not only researching how to slow the progression of the dreaded condition, but also helping the families supporting loved ones battling the fight disease.

Take part in Royce’s Big Walk, which started in 2022 and saw the 65-year-old and his supporters walk more than 300km in 12 days.

His charity, The Royce Simmons Foundation, has since raised more than $1 million.

“The doctor just said, ‘You have Alzheimer’s disease’ or dementia or whatever you want to call it, and then he kept talking and I just went to Disneyland,” Simmons said.

“I don’t know what he said for the next ten to fifteen minutes. Many people think that dementia is a matter of going crazy. They don’t realize that you forget how to eat, you forget how to go to the toilet.

“It affects the lives of your family, the people who have to take care of you. I want people to learn that it is a terrible disease. And then your wife breaks your wife’s life, it breaks your children’s lives. They have to come and take care of you.”

Simmons said he was determined to raise the profile of the plight faced by so many Australians affected by this brutal condition.

“I want people to know so we can try to help eradicate this terrible disease,” he said.

“So I’ve been seeing Mark Hughes doing all these good things with Beanie for Brain Cancer and I thought, ‘stop feeling sorry for yourself, you idiot, get out and do something.’

“So I started walking. We paid for four research programs and they are worth $380,000 each. We’ll have paid for another one in a few months, so it’s five. It’s the realization that I want to go outside.

“So I thought, ‘well, go and help and see how it goes’. Just leave, get on with it and do something positive about it.”

Visit roycesimmonsfoundation.com.au.