Reece Simmonds(born 7 January 1980) is an Australian former professionalrugby leaguefootballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He was born inSydney,and played in theNational Rugby League(NRL) for theSt George Illawarra Dragons(2002–2006; 2011) and theSouth Sydney Rabbitohs(2007).
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Reece Simmonds | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 7 January 1980 Sydney,New South Wales,Australia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Playing information | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 12 st 7 lb (79 kg) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Wing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Playing career
editAn Eagle Vale St Andrews junior, Simmonds worked as a greyhound handler[2]before he made his debut with St George Illawarra in the opening round of the 2002 season. He played 14 games at fullback in 2002 and 2003.
2004 was Simmonds best year. Switching to thewinghe made 23 appearances and scored 14 tries.[1]However, the next two seasons with the Dragons were less successful.
In 2007, Simmonds joined theSouth Sydney Rabbitohsin theNational Rugby Leaguecompetition, but played in just 7 games that season. At the end of the 2007 season, Simmonds played for South Sydney's feeder club side, theNorth Sydney Bearsin theirNSW Cupgrand final against Parramatta atStadium Australia.Simmonds scored a try with 15 minutes left beforeJoe Williamskicked a field goal with 3 minutes remaining to make the score 15–14. Norths then lost the grand final in the last 20 seconds of the game after Parramatta playerWeller Haurakicrossed over for the match winning try.[3]
From 2008 to 2010, Simmonds worked as a coal-miner and played in the lower-tier based rugby league competitions, with Collegians in Wollongong and Wests Illawarra. He retired in 2010 after breaking his leg for a second time, but was persuaded to return to playing, winning a local premiership for Wests.[4]He was also captain of Illawarra Division in theNSW CRLChampionships.[5]
In 2011, Simmonds was called into the Dragons' NRL team to help compensate for nine players out due to injuries andorigincommitments. He returned to retirement at the end of the season to coach the Wests Red Devils in the Illawarra League.[6]
References
edit- ^ab"Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org".rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017.Retrieved1 January2018.
- ^Walter, Brad (10 June 2011)."Titans clean up depleted Dragons".The Sydney Morning Herald.Fairfax Media.Retrieved15 June2011.
- ^"Eels break Peachey's heart".Herald Sun.
- ^Toohey, Barry (8 June 2011)."Reece Simmonds to play for Dragons after four years out of the NRL".The Daily Telegraph.Sydney: News Limited.Retrieved15 June2011.
- ^Gandon, Mike (30 March 2010)."Leg break spells end for Reece Simmonds".Illawarra Mercury.Wollongong: Fairfax Media.Retrieved15 June2011.
- ^Gandon, Mike (13 September 2011)."Reece Simmonds has Mary's big shoes to fill".Illawarra Mercury.Wollongong: Fairfax Media.Retrieved16 November2011.