Reece Simmonds

Reece Simmonds (born 7 January 1980) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He was born in Sydney, and played in the National Rugby League (NRL) for the St George Illawarra Dragons (2002–2006; 2011) and the South Sydney Rabbitohs (2007).

Reece Simmonds
Personal information
Full nameReece Simmonds
Born (1980-01-07) 7 January 1980
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)
Weight12 st 7 lb (79 kg)
PositionWing
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2002–06 St. George Illawarra 48 21 0 0 84
2007 South Sydney 7 1 2 0 8
2011 St. George Illawarra 2 2 0 0 8
Total 57 24 2 0 100
Source: [1]

Playing career

An 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 the wing he made 23 appearances and scored 14 tries.[1] However, the next two seasons with the Dragons were less successful.

In 2007, Simmonds joined the South Sydney Rabbitohs in the National Rugby League competition, but played in just 7 games that season. At the end of the 2007 season, Simmonds played for South Sydney's feeder club side, the North Sydney Bears in their NSW Cup grand final against Parramatta at Stadium Australia. Simmonds scored a try with 15 minutes left before Joe Williams kicked 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 player Weller Hauraki crossed 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 the NSW CRL Championships.[5]

In 2011, Simmonds was called into the Dragons' NRL team to help compensate for nine players out due to injuries and origin commitments. He returned to retirement at the end of the season to coach the Wests Red Devils in the Illawarra League.[6]

References
  1. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  2. Walter, Brad (10 June 2011). "Titans clean up depleted Dragons". The Sydney Morning Herald. Fairfax Media. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  3. "Eels break Peachey's heart". Herald Sun.
  4. Toohey, Barry (8 June 2011). "Reece Simmonds to play for Dragons after four years out of the NRL". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney: News Limited. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  5. Gandon, Mike (30 March 2010). "Leg break spells end for Reece Simmonds". Illawarra Mercury. Wollongong: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 15 June 2011.
  6. Gandon, Mike (13 September 2011). "Reece Simmonds has Mary's big shoes to fill". Illawarra Mercury. Wollongong: Fairfax Media. Retrieved 16 November 2011.
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