Welcome to The bye Rond Podcast Interview show This week Jimmy is joined by a true rugby league legend, the one and only Royce Simmons.The boys discuss Royce’s career as both a player and coach, share some cracking stories from his time in rugby league and opens up on what it’s like living with dementia.
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0:00 Royce In England
5:30 Living With Dementia
19:30 Growing Up In Gooloogong, Country NSW
30:50 Penrith Panthers
1:03:00 Representing Australia & NSW
1:21:51 Coaching Hull FC
1:33:25 Coaching Jimmy At St Helens
1:42:30 The Current Penrith Panthers Dynasty
1:48:00 Royce’s Dream Spine
1:49:53 Jimmy’s Three Questions
hello and welcome everybody to the latest edition of the by round interview show now today um our guest is a hero to many a history maker a former coach of mine which hopefully we’re not going to get too much uh tied up in what it was like to coach me um person who was basically its job it was when he was coaching me to try and stop me from coming here to Australia um a fighter um a person that doesn’t like the fan fair but there’s going to be plenty coming uh none other fresh from the street named after him Roy Simmons what do you mean the street mate it’s the whole building it’s not only the street that’s why I didn’t want to send you the address of where I live I knew it was going to be a problem but it is a whole building you will you know that anyway cuz you’re just waiting to set me up so well when when you got Chau for driven in I needed to know where to pick you off from and you reluctant to text it to me very reluctant I knew I knew this where we’d go you don’t like and a cafe too by the way if you’re going to get me your M will go the whole way in a cafe do you ever do you ever pay for food in the cafe yeah yeah I do can you put a bit of a plugin on that well mate last time we were I live there I don’t own it mate get me right I don’t I mean just do you know I was there with you when when I caught up with you and you this young lady on the till obviously didn’t know who you were and when we went you just walked off with the food and she said oh excuse me and you just went pointed to I can’t remember that I have got the meet you so so you got me you’re playing you’re playing that part picking on a BL of Dimension anyway carry on carry on carry on okay you enjoy that Victory how are you reys good mate I’m going good fine good good uh lot of traveling going on recently back from back from England oh it was it was tremendous going back over to uh England um you know I had to go over there for obviously the pen game over there and uh and um it was good that at work they’ve been saying to me for quite a while you got to take your holidays you got to take your holidays so I’m flying back over to England any anyway to go for that thing so I decid to take me holidays I took some at the start and some of the back of the uh around the game and um flew into Manchester got straight on a train and went down the hole and caught up with all my old mates down there uh and said good day to them and went to a whole FC H KR game you know what they’re like built the crap out of each other but uh they had a table there set up for me with a lot of the old players that a lot of them the young BLS were the BLS who made their Debo when you were there so it was it was great to to catch up with them and a couple of run into a couple of um the of the old players too so it was uh BLS like Johnny sharp and Russ Walker oh yeah that you you’d know you know very well um and some of the the younger BLS Rob damy and Andy dear love and uh J Cassy and a few of them younger BLS too that uh I was lucky enough that that they made a Deo there I I really enjoyed me time at Hull I had two great years there um I don’t think I knew what I was doing but uh anyway I Bluff me way through it U and then you went over across to St hens as well caught up with a with and robes and that’s right that’s uh so then went up to Manchester to the game and stayed uh um you know there for about nine days showing the sponsors around to you know going to various events and so on and obviously the Highlight was the game um oh I went to one of them bloody soccer games too while I was over there I’m not much of a fan on them you don’t like it no no not as much action no it was the atmosphere is pretty good though who it was Manchester uh City uh um played Chelsea I think it was oh yeah yeah yeah yeah didn’t fancy it no why’d you go I had to it was part of work got to do what you told me so went there anyway I’ll get killed by about 100 soccer fans now won’t be able to walk up the street it’s a bit I don’t know it’s a bit I don’t know it’s not it’s where you bought up is it yeah it’s not bad bad thing to do for quote unquote work I do like the um the atmosphere at them they’re fantastic yeah yeah they know how to generate an atmosphere so anyway um Ro just on um you diagn what what what does life look like now um as much changed I guess you know when you’re personally receiving that information obviously very difficult to swallow I I guess the public perception would I don’t know like a little bit of mystery like what what does life actually look like cuz you’re still working you’re still living yeah um you know I can feel my myself starting to what I go that’s a good word I can feel you know um you know getting up waking up in the morning and say what’ they do yesterday and taking about an hour before you sort of get around what you did yesterday and uh all them sort of things or just sort of you know um a blank sort of just forget about what you’re talking about whatever you know but I haven’t had too much of a drop yet I’ve been uh you I’m my medication to slow things down and uh um so you know they say you should do a lot of exercise so I get up most mornings and walk for about 3 4 hours you know I just try to do you know take your medication try to do um anything if I hear any bits of things that say this helps I go and do it you know so I’m I’m 100 mph all the time trying to slow things up and prevent things yeah um and that’s I’m working really hard on that and uh and one of them is going to work and mixing with people and all that so you know I make sure you know like especially if you’re taking some sponsors away or doing that that’s great you get to talk to people mix with people they asked you about you know the footy when you played and all that stuff I think’s all good for you so I I I do anything that I think can can you know if someone says this uh vitamin tablet’s good you know well I’ll take it you know sort of thing you know but uh so I sort of try to do anything that uh helps slow slow it down but you know I’m fully aware that at some stage uh you know things are going to turn and and no not so bad for me but you just worry about what it’s going to do to your family that’s that’s what I worry about the most I’m not so concerned about myself but um uh because you know you’re going to get looked after what whatever but um my big concern is wasting the family’s time and part of life where they could be enjoying things you know I don’t think it’d be a waste of time I I understand what you’re saying well you know probably that’s probably wasn’t a good word but but you know um you know instead of being out and going on holidays and doing them sort of things you know although you know Mrs does get cranky with me a few times she’d probably take a bloody holiday and leave me somewhere you know wouldn’t be surprised take a note on that mate give it to us later I’ll send that to you um it it’s great to to hear you be proactive like that because I think a lot of people go the other way and they get a diagnosis like that and just yeah I think don’t look to to to try cuz I think I’m right in saying you can put the you can’t fully stop this you can slow it down but you can speed it up as well if you’re not connecting you’re not doing things yeah I I think um you know as people uh get Dem menure so I’ve been told by people who know a lot more than me that a lot of people Retreat um uh be because they get embarrassed you know and so I haven’t got to that stage yet so you know I might do the same thing when we we get there cuz you I think you you go through I don’t know enough about dementia to be honest I’m only sort of learning what other people tell me um and and the doctors tell me but I think you know a lot of people probably get a little bit shy and a little bit embarrassed seems to be a part of it I see a lot of other people you know I try to sort of mix and talk with that have got dementia but they they sort of retreat a little bit so that’s I think a part of the illness yeah I mean it’s it’s understandable but I think the way you’re attacking it is the best possible way to you know keep this current state going for as long as possible well mate the the the best thing like I’m doing right now is um raising money for research so right now um we’ve paid for four research programs and four of them are getting done and and they’re roughly about $380,000 each so that you know it’s not that easy to you know any sponsors out there uh it’s not that uh easy to put 380,000 together you know when you’re you’re going around trying to little bit here and a little bit there and um um you know so um thanks to oh here you going to have another laugh here thanks to me major sponsor the Roy see not bad not bad little F so uh yeah so that’s um you know it’s not easy to come up with that sort of money so um but we got four happening as we talk so you know touch wood they might make some advancements during these research programs well M that that’s it you know you you never want during this be wanted to be a victim and you automatically wanted to help and I was part of some of those um um those walks I did did one of those days with you and you know what was was fascinating about it was you know the amount of support you received you know from friends loved ones former teammates former Rivals yeah I don’t let do it I think it was Jee miles down and Wally Lewis W Lewis yeah Trevor Gil Meister Trevor Gil Meister like you didn’t did you play with those Lads or only against them no I played with them in in the the Australian side oh right yes sorry yeah yeah yeah but um so really really good friends with them you know I’ve I’ve been invited up to the fogs up there and they’ve made it um a really good donation to me so they’ve been I’ve invited up there I think Jan’s the the the president of of the fogs that’s the the that former origin great that’s what the coens Landers call themselves um big Nots I won’t get any money off next time I better shut up no they they were fantastic they invited invited me up went up there to a business lunch and they made a really big donation to um to the foundation so um you know and that they’re the sort of things that help you out and just I just could Blown Away uh um I went to a state of origin function here um last Wednesday fortn night and 75% of the of the boys there said we’ll walk next time you’re going for a walk let us know we we’ll we’ll jump in and go they’re all cers mustard as you said they’re all good supporters you know um sort of uh back in their time probably you know we we all sort of worked and all that sort of stuff so I think everyone sort of appreciates you know you know um that you had to go to work then then go on train and everything afterwards and you you after a game you going have a beer together and end up really good mates you know and end up maybe some people got to have the pleasure of playing rep footy together so you your mateship gr and the same the same with me and Jane and Wally and Trevor and Mel and all them BLS up there too they all give you great support because uh you know you you played U rep football over against them or rep football with him as in the Australian side yeah well we’re going to touch on that 86 kangaroos tour yeah bet you do a little bit later on don’t worry about that um M why walking though because one of my distinct memories of you is um I remember coming in early one training session at St hens and you weren’t running you were rowing now you’re not exactly the body type to be on the road but geez you were giving it some yeah but going nowhere it was a stationary one I know I wouldn’t have mattered if it was in the water like M I was going I know you were going the legs weren’t going that far you know well you don’t have long levers no I understood that but what so what were you doing on the RO machine all the time every every and then lo and behold I found out every Tuesday you were in there fogging yourself on the r yeah I was in there more than Tuesday but it was it was uh it was uh if you have a beverage every now and then mate you you have to earn the right to have one you know that’s my through so we used to get in there and do the old was it 20 I think it was 20 rows uh 300 M row and you had to get it done in under a minute 20 of that you doing then you get 30 seconds rest yeah we used to do it when I was uh when I was um we were playing you know all the time so you you know you didn’t um so when you back playing in our day You’ train Tuesday Thursday and Saturday morning or Friday night or whatever you know you only do a few sessions so I would train all the other days on the day off you know and proba to off your feet sort of thing so I got into that stuff I was always uh probably didn’t have the ability a lot of other players but so I always had to make sure you were right at the top of your Fitness you know you when you uh you know you’re trying to make rep sides and even you know even to make your pen side every week uh you know I had to be somewhere near operating on full power you know not 74% or anything well that’s what made you stand out right you work EIC yeah um Ju Just quickly the the the Roy Simmons Foundation you’ve got those four research projects happening now what what what’s the sort of and what are you trying what else are you trying to achieve with that oh well what I virtually do is I just um you know I just hand money over to dementia Australia and they they go and pick um the professor they think is best suited to whatever research programs coming up and the way they go then they just send me an update you know every 3 months or something like that they send me an update about how it’s going and I can’t understand any of it anyway mate so they sent it to me but it doesn’t make much sense to me but uh um but it’s good they give you feedback and um so them as I said them products are happening now but just just some interesting stats for the people out there um dementia is the biggest killer of women in the world you know so it’s it’s a massive second biggest killer of men there’s about 500,000 with menure in Australia right now as we talk and that’s going to grow quickly to 800,000 uh and then it look it it takes 1.5 million people to look after people with dementia so you see the cost that they going you know and the other thing is now young people are starting to get dementia people of the past used to think well you know people only 60 70 80 it’s not happening now it’s down into children and everything and the younger Generations the 30s 40s 50s so it’s getting a lot worse and look right now in the world uh there’s 55 million people with dementia and it’s by 2050 it’s going to be 139 million wow so it just blows you way a little bit you know so imagine what getting rid of dementia would do to the budget let alone all the things that could do to the people that have got dementia you know so it’s a you know it’s it’s not a little thing and I I don’t think we’re probably working at it as hard uh as what we should be yeah I’ve well my late grandmother um passed with dementia and my nan um is currently in the um yeah deep stages of her she’s in a care home now and it’s it it you’re writing what you said earlier about it it impacts the the family a lot yeah a lot does yeah um or it has the potential to at least and can you just recheck on my wife again better taken off on them holidays you just just keep an eye on that for us mate with my money too all right all right and M I want to I want to go back because obviously I knew you you you’re my coach uh and I I knew who you were and I knew about the career you had probably not as um I I didn’t realize just how special of a player you were um but also I didn’t know about your upbringing in the town of gulong now I I knew you were from quote unquote the bush but I read about gulong on the census from 2001 a population sorry yeah 2001 population of 48 can I tell you this is closer to the eight than the 400 than the 400 uh it’s uh you know we moved from a little town called kandra you know which had probably a couple of thousand people in it uh when I was about eight or n year old my dad uh was a butcher and worked for actually a butcher shop in kandra and um then he seen the butcher shop at gulong um was up for sale so he he bought the little shop down at uh at gulong so we we packed up and moved down there now so uh uh I went to I went to the there was a couple of primary schools a Catholic school and a public school uh in in my school there was uh six in my class there was six there was four girls and two boys uh and I think in the whole school there was 48 I think really in the school I went to yeah 48 people so um I suppose in mom and dad you know so it might be getting up a little bit more than what I thought but it’s there’s never been 48 people in gulo you’d be counting for the you’d be counting for 20 mile every way to fit that in man what what like what what’s life like in a in a place like that CU it’s it for me it’s so difficult to try and even comprehend uh well you amazing back then Everything’s changed bit now it’s probably not going all them little towns out in the bush are probably not going quite as good now as they were back then you know like uh um back then it it had a what we call was called a country club right so sounds a bit flash flasher than what it really was so uh we had we had four tennis courts there and the old hard tennis courts you know and then uh and uh we had a Bowling Green we had uh 1 golf holes you had to play another five you had to play two twice you know and they were sand greens so sand sand well you you know you just didn’t have the fine anses to water and all that on so the sand sand green so um you didn’t hit hit a a pitch and wedge onto him with you know like the sand what they do was uh they just clear off a round around um um bit and then they put sand on it then they put over that listen this they put sump oil and Diesel and run over so the sand went from white to black and then you’d hit you chip and run onto the green hope I’m not jumping too far ahead you chip and run onto the green then you you’d get a little um sort of a turned upside upside down rake and you’d pulled with the cross and it flatten it all out and you’d have your putt into the obviously the hole you didn’t have to judge for any up the hill or down the hill or bend or anything you just had to hit it hard enough to get through the sand to get to the R so uh so we had that we had uh uh a couple of cricket wickets too uh and so everyone um used to come up there and uh once a year we’d have a a sports weekend where You’ You’ you’d play um the the competition people would come from everywhere you’d have maybe the town would double its size all right so double its size and you you’d play uh you’d have a a team of um of four of you see You’d play four games of tennis and see and count your score against then you draw someone else for the cricket and you go over and youd have four overs of cricket against each other then you’d finish that and you’d go and um you’d play uh nine holes of sorry six holes of golf I think it was at the time and uh and um then you You’ play six ends of lawn balls so it was a it was a real uh and I used to take a bus load of boys from Panthers back in the early’ 80s we jump in a bus and up we go we take about seven or eight sides up and have a weekend up there but was was more about enjoying yourself and bending your elbow with a couple of drinks in between your advents but it was a it was a big Sportsman’s type weekend where um so the little town had had something like like that little Country Club as they call it with all them little sporting things happening uh we’d have we at Ro back then I think we had two cricket teams and two good Turf wickets and played in the Cara competition um you know the tennis competition Tuesday and Thursday nights there’s always something on in between that the Lin River was 3 or 400 yards away 7 eight down You’ go you could learn to swim by then you’d be swimming across the river swim swim swinging out of the trees on ropes do some assaults and land in the water and all that sort of things Matt how’ you even play Ruby League though how’ you play 13 on 13 like how far would you have to travel as a youngster to get competitive games well um gulong never had a rby league side of course because they they couldn’t have made a side they had a side at school so you’d be play you play Four games a year at at school uh and it was uh you play a little town called ugara and another well they’re bigger than gong of course but you play another town called grenal you play game over there in the game and home both them so only play but uh them schools would have uh in their fifth and sixth class they would have enough bo boys to form a team at at gulong we needed from the top down to you made the side so I remember playing fullback for for fullback for uh gulong when I was in second class yeah playing against the 12 year olds I was about eight you back and then when I got to uh there’s only when we got to play and and I was in sixth class uh we we’d play again and uh there was only me and one other boy in sixth class so all they all come from fifth yeah fourth third second to make up the team so you’d run the ball up have a run then get tackled and whoever went the dummy half would go the dummy half run back around the front and give it back to me’ll have to run again there was there was only two of us that age you know could play so so yeah it was so there was plenty to do mate we just we just made it up yeah what what sort of um traits does a town like that instill in a in a person what’s it in what did that instill in you do you think oh I think it just uh made you go and look for things to do you know like as I said we head to the river head to the tennis court head there it wasn’t you had to go and make your own like we all had push bikes um I had a uh I had a horse used to jump in the back of the horse and go for a ride one particular you horse riding well let me tell you dad bought me this horse so um this particular day I’ve just walked took it out the front of the house which was the main road Main Street on the other side of the Main Street there was no nothing just paddocks all right so the is this side Main Street paddocks so I’ve hopped on the horse bear back because I was only taken across the road to have a bit of a pick fresher grass over there and two cattle dogs come out of the out of a friend’s yard and took after the horse so the horse bolded and you’re on it I’m sitting on a bear back so it’s going it’s going down the hill and it has been a bit of a flood and uh it come to a water patch and it stopped on a two Bob piece and obviously I kept going think got to land in the middle of the water swam back out got back on it didn’t no actually I didn’t get back on it I led it up to the uh to our yard and I said Dad come here I said sell this so we sold it I and I only had the one thing so few years later got a motorbike all right okay okay yeah yeah swap a horse from motorik yeah yeah but no had the motorbike coming home to go to work at gulong coming home and uh I turned off the tar Road onto a dirt road and hit a rock about the size of my head straight over the handlebars and kept going no water to land in his time bounced a few times got up pushed it on sold it whatever’s thrown me off m I’d get rid of I sell when go so there fair enough um M when you um making your way through um the professional ranks you you you signed for for penth Panthers how bigger adjustment from Life in gulong was it when you from when you moved to pmth yeah well in um later on I um I I played a bit of Rugby Union went back to kandra where I was was playing rugby union um before we moved down because there was no Junior rugby league toand so everyone is played the Rugby Union so went there then also when I lived at um gulong end up going to high school of Cara so and so I end up um playing for the school boy side up there which was a really good side I think we only got beaten twice twice in 4 years or something so we’re we’re really good at a really good side up there so um I then end up playing a a bit of uh um I finished like playing with the under 16s for the for the school boy side then decided I’d play league for Cara um which is a town of about 10 or 11,000 so uh so I end up um playing under eight there um the first year when I was still in like they went in two years 16s 18s so um I played there then the following year they asked me to play first grade uh when I was still eligible to sort of playing NES they asked me would I come and play first grade and I said I would so um what happened uh um then after doing that I in our first year we made the Grand Final with the car of first grad side um we played town called blay in the Grand Final uh was my first Grand Final you know with men all around me I was very nervous before the game and um and right of the very with about 2 minutes to go uh I got I got feet across the tunnel in the old hooking style food across the tunnel so I got penalized for cheating virtually you know food across the tunnel and uh they kicked a goal from about 45 M out to um to beat us in the Grand Final so my first Grand Final with the men was a failure lost it for him uh and uh so then I went across the kandra which was other little remember the little towns I talk so I went across kandra the next year because they offered me a bit of money to go over there and you know like a few dollars back then was you know was I I grabbed it so I went across gandra and we had a pretty good year over there we made the semis we got beaten in the semis then I went back to K again the next year well the next year I go back to Cara I get um flogged into scrums cuz I was remember when I was playing the union days I was actually a halfback so I was still trying to learn that scrummaging about it so I went back and got flogged at car and lost to scrums and lost him the Grand Final again so I think they said sort of get out of the town and go down to penri and have go get away from us you oh really that was no no it wasn’t quite as bad as that but that’s how they really felt no lot of good mates still have in in 1977 I got uh 7778 I got an invitation to go down trial with St George this is after you know so I went down had a trial with St George at the end of the game they said uh was when the 13 import rule was in and they said no you’re you’re not quite what we want so I went home so um so what’s the 13 import well import rule was when you could only you had to have your local Juniors playing but you in first grade yeah in in your Club yeah uh you know your first second third grade was at the time it was a third import Rule and what it was um you could have exactly what it says you could have third Imports comeing to your club but everyone else had to be locals really yes everyone else had to be locals uh that was back in the 70s are yeah so that’s how it how it worked yeah so 13 Imports and imports is anyone from outside your outside your area and then um you know anyone didn’t know that yeah no that’s that was a rule they had at the time or there’s a soft way of telling me I wasn’t good enough so yeah so I Tri trial with them uh and didn’t didn’t do any good then SS in in bited me down in the end of the 1979 season the start of the 1980 season so I went down with souths I lived down at KI um with a couple of old mates from Cara who had been down there and they they were down there running brewery trucks and so on and they had the unit and there was a few other people had an upstairs and the downstairs and there was folks like Charlie FFF was there uh playing with souths in his first year and Grant Jones who played fullback for for them it was quite a few around that that area than lived in these places U this big house where we were so I um I trained for them November December January then we started um started trials so I was having a me first trial and I and all of a sudden I I get a ring from a BL called Len stacker who was a coach at penri at the time so uh Len rang me and said um um would you mind having a a trial with us and I said yeah then he says I know you’re playing tomorrow he said but um you can come out for trial next week and I said well you got a trial on Sunday so I said I’ll I’ll go to that I said I’ll have the troll the day s then I’ll go go with you the next day I said that you know all good um and uh Len made his contacts through as I said the Barry Rush who was a member of the 1963 Kangaroos and he was then the current Captain coach of lifco workman’s club like in other words he had a great career at param yeah then went out to the bush retired bought himself a pub out there and was the captain coach of the thing so Lenny rang in up and said is there any decent young players out there and he said yeah there’s one at car and recommend to him so he rang mom to find out to say would have a trial now he’s down at souths already trialing so he rang me and that’s how the contact was made and um so uh so he came out and watched me that day and as I said I I turned up the very next day for a trial out there and I went from a fifth grade game at South Sydney you know which probably wasn’t give me a lot of confidence I’m in a fifth grade game trying to make the first or second grade top thing and uh but obviously they give they give me a good trial and was watching everything and then the next day I went out to um penr and I was in the second grade game and uh I played that game and and when it was finished asked me to sit on the side line for um the first grade and 20 minutes ago in that game I got uh sent on and uh um I was playing against George bonus who was the current Australian Captain so you know so at the end of the game Lenny said we’d like to sign you um there’s a bit of trouble with finances right now but we we we’ll try to the sign you and all that so I sort of told sth that I was yeah I was sort of down there trialing that so for the next four to five weeks I moved sort of straight into penr with a a mate uh or another pen player so um for the next four or five weeks Lenny had to fight the club to see whether they’d give us cuz he asked me what I wanted I had no idea I said 4,000 and he said right I see can I get it and the club turned it down turned it down turned it down but he kept annoying them and annoying them and annoying them So eventually they give him another 4,000 cuz at the time they already had signed uh Jim Jones who I battled with over the years to play hooker for the first year couple of years and there’s another like called Steve Martin who was a really good hooker versatile player out there as well so they they thought that was sufficient but uh Lenny drove him nuts to he end up given us a contract yeah yeah and then you you quickly um became you know face team regular and you start to build a a pretty decent team where you’re Captain you’ve got the likes of Alexander Gia cartright fitler what what was so special about that group like how did they come together well there was um there was a time like just after we Lo it s for pen we had a a couple of Le years I mean we just didn’t have the the Personnel to go on and and win continuous games you know we never had enough depth and had good players but not enough depth and all that so you get a taste of that getting beat and you know got a wooden spoon one year then you know you get a taste of that getting beaten and and it got to the stage um where there was only five players I think it was 90 80 it was the end of 1983 season there was only five players left uncontracted penr and uh and I was saying what you know what can we do how the only five players on contract how we got get them and they had a meeting at thing and I went to the meeting and at the end of it I went to Roger count who was the boss of the time I said Roger only got one chance here is get Tim shanes back because Tim had retired a couple of years before and went and played the bush and I said you need to get Tim back here cuz he knows all the locals and he might be able to bring him back from various other clubs they’re at and so on and so on so um they they went and talked to Tim and Tim said yeah he come back I give him a couple of calls and he as well um just to try to encourage him and he he come back and he took the job and they went into this system where if you if you played first grade you got $1,000 a game so a lot of players come back for it because you they thought well you know like I was on a probably I think at the time I was on about uh 12,000 and I was a captain and you know and and still on you know and and so they will come back and uh cuz they thought oh it was a good chance you play 20 games you get 20 grand you know which was a big contract back then so Tim come back and they come up with that system and uh and you know young BLS like brandy and all that you know um I remember I remember Tim coming to me he said I’m going to start Greg Alexander in the in the um first team this week for a trial I said mate he’s only a kid I said he haven’t even got any hair on his bum I said you can’t give him a run said he’s not quite up ready yet so about two two or three games later I lobbed up to him I said what are you doing mate you’re holding that kid back which he already B cuz he knew so so cuz he even started him in the in the centers I think for his first game in in reserve grade I think he’s scored four tries or something then in the half back then in the thing so that little bit of a sort of getting Tim back and coming up with that idea of the ,000 a game uh you know didn’t maybe one a lost ,000 a game you know so so Brandy come back I think in his first year I think he played something like 20 first grade games so he actually got more than the the captain the not bad so it was yeah so um we had a lot of uh you know Tim come back so it was um a good uh you know he knew what was happening around the town and he knew you know we had to get the Juniors back he knew that was the only way to sort of rebuild because the junior strength he um he got thought well you know I’ve got to get all the Juniors back I get them get them playing well I’ve got to get them educated I’ve got to get this skill levels up and um I think course um he went along them lines and with the encouragement with the money that things sort of took off and all of a sudden you know M mg and all enbl start started to appear on the scene because they were coming through this the system you know and um what type of Captain were you Ro yeah I was lead by example mate um you know like I said earlier I didn’t have the talent the the talent a lot of other but you know I’m not saying there’s a big gap between me and that but I didn’t have the the talent of of some other people that you were going for a position or whatever so I always thought you had to be you know you had to be very fit you had to you know do whatever could make you better player by diets like I got into the diets when I was um pretty young to make sure I was eating the right food and all all that sort of stuff so did anything to try to um um you know the other boys will say well you know especially 1986 like I was the first um lucky enough to be the first pen of play to ever get picked for Australia so oh well yeah yeah so that was that was something I was very proud of but it was something that I knew that because um them boys then would know that it’s possible to do it from penr yeah you know and and and and by always being sort of lead by example bloke on you the boys at pen be saying gez that little bugger he he trains hard yeah and whatever whatever and he eats the right food and whatever you know and um does whatever they try to make better player uh and and to be honest you know that’s what they’ be thinking to be honest I think I’m a better player you know like cardi mg coand you know the list goes on you know they and they’re all thinking well I can do it too I can do it too and and a couple of years later well later that year Greg joined me on the kangaroo tour so he was the second then all of a sudden cardi mg you know all the the boys started the Breakthrough and all the the the rep footy you know um so yeah well I didn’t realize you first like well he was even before me BR he broke into the state state side but uh um I’m I’m leaving someone out of that pen group too cardi mg fitler Randy and Freddy yeah how would I forget Freddy he’ll be filthy make sure that bit gets in hey um I want to ask you so you build this team um you go from wooden spooners to beating Grand finalists then the 1991 um Grand Final it’s 91 the one yeah 91 yeah that you win yeah uh I watch watch the tries M you’re the first one yeah oh you yeah well what happened well hang on let me just m I’m watching it and just thinking why the [ __ ] didn’t you try something like that a little bit earlier in your career man it was it’s first class where have you where have you been hiding that well that’s what I was just about to tell you before you had to jump rudely in me way it was so hard for the 11 previous years to not show that ability to score a try I thought I’ve got to keep it to for a very special occasion and I released it in 1991 Grand final day I thought how easy is this like taking weed off blind chooks I said mate you pissed it oh what a fluk man are you m it’s the the the second one I mean I’d probably score I doubt it you would have been still under the post having the rest um but man that first try yeah man it is considering you hadn’t scored all year like it’s pretty good now I think in the first two or three years I come down think I scored you know three or four tries a year or something like that then I went on a very long hatch mate it was it was more than that year too I think you could have went back another couple so uh yeah it was just that ability to hide that for 11 years mate before red you releasing it m you smart man releasing it not just a pretty face Ro sh very clever um M you you said after that Grand Final um you reflected said it it wouldn’t um it wouldn’t bring back the the loss of 1990 against the same opponent no it was well I think I think that um the 90 like it wouldn’t it wouldn’t avenge it no no the hurt was just getting beaten from that like uh no that that’s still uh it’s still sticks in my mind yeah still sticks in me mind after you know um you you know there’s that many years maybe playing for penr and and uh I kept in that side where I didn’t kep the 91 side I kept in the the 90 side um uh you know just to be a be back you know back in 1980 when we’re getting flogged every week and getting the wooden spoon and going through and going through then getting right through that to that uh game and then you know um getting beaten I I just remember sitting on the field crying like a big kid you know quite embarrassing to be honest uh but uh yeah no that still sticks in your mind one go yeah wow I think over me whole career I think a lot of people say that you know they love winning and they get up the top and they don’t show lot of respect for the people under them CU that’s the way they they they win and I respect them people cuz some of the ones I’ve talked to are outstanding Sports people who do that they don’t show any respect because they believe that’s how you stay at the top and that’s how you’re going um me I I sort of get motivated by the fear of getting beaten that motivates me more than the other people looking the other way I just I I just hate the thought of getting beaten and uh and that that sort of sticks in me head more than the winning you know I don’t know if I’m making a lot no no it does make sense just scares me the death that get beaten uh and that’s why you know after the games I see the boys today they’re all shaking hands and cuddling that I’d be in the dress and [ __ ] I because I would be I wouldn’t want to you know I wouldn’t have been dirty with the opposition they beat you but I’d be dirty with myself or whatever you know course didn’t didn’t do what we should have done you know that’s what you that’s what you’re out there to try to do win games and if you’re not winning them it just it just used to but funny enough I wouldn’t leave lose sorry it wouldn’t lose me confidence I’d still turn up and think well I can beat these bat the drive never played a game where I didn’t think we could win yeah but you had that drive is the drive was more I don’t want to feel like that that’s right rather than I do want to feel like this yeah far out that’s I don’t think you’re on your own by that there’s plenty of people that are motivated just not to lose yeah um so so if if you if you get beaten that to me is that sort of stick in me mind all week right up to the next game I don’t want to do that I don’t want to do this stick the whole thing was that where you know if I won I’d enjoy it for two days then I’d be saying to myself got to get ready this week got to be you know got to get your head back around that game’s over you got to get your head back around this one now let’s start getting ready for this game you know so that that’s sort of a bit of a difference you enjoyed the couple of days but yeah the other way I was hated that feeling so much yeah just hated it but going into that last game uh there’s the potential for the fairy tale like your last game of your career being a grand final I had the very same thing it can be a fairy tale but you you also know could be a disaster and heartbreak yeah what what were what were your emotions going into that game can you can you recall no I was I was very positive yeah yeah I never I never sort of thought we weren’t going to win um uh but I did I did know it was me last game I knew I wouldn’t you know there no after this one there’s no there’s there’s no win in the Grand Final I I I go back I got beaten and we we joked about things earlier on but I got beaten in a Grand Final in 1977 and that Grand Final to me playing back in Cara was just as important as the Grand Final we playing in in me last game yeah because I was still playing with me mates you w playing with for money or whatever you’re playing with your your mates and your friends and you and you and you want to win and so 77 I get beaten in the Grand Final 79 I get beaten in the Grand Final uh again same feelings 990 I get beaten in the Grand Final so all week I’m just saying to myself well this is your last chance mate um you know and and I look back now and I’ve I’ve won a grand final you know and I think and I see a BL like Wayne Pierce you know he’s he Springs to M um [Music] Wayne you know better player than me uh he’s gone through his whole career and hasn’t won a grand final and I’m thinking that like yeah that is you know something that he’s going to eat away at him for the rest of his life you know to a point you know like oh you never won a grand finally you know you you know it’s going to be and and there’s a lot there’s a lot of players out there great players that have never won a grand final as I said far better players than me but I I just kept thinking to myself you know we’ve got to win we have to win because it’s going to be a part and a lot of them boys never ever won another grand final anyway a lot of them great players we spoke about earlier so you go through your career and and and I’m pretty very proud of me career but imagine saying but we haven’t won a grand final you know I feel so sorry for them great players who haven’t won one it just must be a big you know just a bloody party you just sort of thrown away you know how were the um the celebrations after obviously your your very famous speech around you’d want to have a be with each and every penth fan how many of those fans did you did you get to I’ve been through the pen um city now about three times they haven’t had one with me they’ve had three so don’t worry about that mate that’s all done finished completed mission accomplished now it’s their turn to start buying me the fourth one ah see that’s that’s where we got to straighten up now now that that’s to this current day I can be anywhere in the world and someone will yell out Simo you owe me a beer or I’ll get you one mate you know you just you hear it anywhere I’ve been in a Yi walking up a street in the BL Simo come over here and I’ll buy you one you know you hear it all the time you know yeah in Hawaii yeah like I’ve just I’ve everywhere different states different parts of the world you know you just you you run into someone it’s uh uh I’m glad I said this because it’s it breaks the ice with a lot of people who want to see get IDE yeah you know and and you even though you might have a beer but at least you’ll stand and talk for five or 10 minutes you know man just watching that back you’re like a rock and roll star that’s what it sounds like it’s the type of thing a rock and roll star would say listen it really is you remember I went to that school do you remember I said the school and um six in the in the class yeah yeah well the concert at the end of the year was coming up all right so so the nuns are there and they’ve said they’ve said uh to me um ro we’re going to have we’re going to get ready for the concert at the end of the year so we’re going to have we’re going to have sing a sing along yeah with the six kids you know so I start singing away doing me best and and the teacher come across and says uh you putting the other five out of tunee she said can you MIM and I said yeah I can M so and she said you’re no good at that nether she said can you work the curtain I said I got that one covered so Mom and Dad used to sit there every every year you know sitting there looking and I’d run past with a with a curtain do a big wave you ever look at me in the Australian test side s singing the National Anthem I’m back Ming because I don’t want to put the other I don’t put the other 16 Out Of Tune the world’s worst singer and you’ve called me a bloody well rock it was it was a rockar style speech I’m going to have a beer with each and every one of you it was brilliant H how was the celebrations after that though obviously not just celebrating the the Grand Final but but also a magnificent um footballing career we went everywhere in the club sort of thing we went back we got got in uh the um bus to come home and it was getting a bit scary cuz people in the cars were trying to get close and and someone stood out on the on the freeway with a a big sign Premier or something it’s I’m sorry it’s Pen’s first one as well isn’t it yeah of course yeah so you wear rock stars well we’re coming home and they along the the M4 people gave it everywhere and this big thing and you know the bus driver had to vers on the so there’s people on the M pulling up on the M4 everywhere all along it what like pedestrians or just getting their cars and waving and things like that it was a bit dangerous you know and just the there was one stage they had a a sign out and the and the bus driver virtually had to back right up because you people get pulled in you know they’re all H in the sign and the bus will go straight through it but the driver slows right up because he’s scared of pulling people underneath you know it was and and he was going really slow and all that because he knew there was a all that so it was but you know so we get back and every place in the club is chalkers you know the the nightclubs the the the bar the bar R every part of was chalkers they they had to stop they had to stop people coming in was just too crowded they had outside venues they had everything yeah it was just oh it was just a it was a um magic sort of a magic sort of a night and you them all singing and carrying on and uh yeah it was pretty pretty pretty special I bet it was um M of part of your career you mentioned it earlier you you played um representative football and one of those representative was the 86 kangaroos so I just want to play something because we sat down with um stor and blocker now I don’t know how much you paid them to say this but I just want to play you this video the relationship that I uh that I got with Roy Simmons over the years just um just a m just a great blow on and off the field magnificent competitor probably didn’t have the uh the ability of of aenny elas I would say and he probably wouldn’t mind me saying that but just as a wholehearted bloke on and off the field you know i’ I’d I’d probably say I’d probably say Roy he’ be the black guye that I enjoyed the most I hope he never gets to hear this yeah it’ll be too big because I he’s my choice oh really I I think in that I think I spent more time with him than anybody else and that’s probably a sign of of you know the relationship how much you’re enjoying it yeah and I just and today you know I love catching out with I’m worried because every time I see him the eyes the slits they’re like venan blinds they just keep getting let down type thing eventually you won’t be able to see anything but and and I think we established a really nice relationship during the origin period in those three games um and to carry that into the and the other thing about him too the other thing about him too he was exactly the same with p and I as he was with everyone do you understand I don’t know just had gravitation towards him you know I don’t know I don’t know it’s just the way he was just just a fun bloke just great to be around you know when it came to the um the Giants versus the Lans yeah he wasn’t much help there but his Mobility you know he just he got crushed I tried to help him out never helped at all how do it make you feel when you when you hear people talk about that because we asked them about their best on ground for the tour on and off the field and they both come up with you and they speak so highly of you yeah well they they’re great BS too um and made I’m over the moon to hear that of course uh um I remember uh back um uh back in 1986 in the state of origin game um uh Ron Willie was our coach and uh this is where blockers involved I’m just so so um Ronnie will is our coach and he pulls me aside before the first game and he said Royce I I want to let you know that you’re going to be Vice Captain in New South Wales he said um he said’ but we’ll just keep that to ourselves just you and me will just know that you know he said we don’t need to tell everyone and uh and I said all right Ron uh I said I’ve been captain appen now for about seven or eight years I said what role do you want me to play he said oh it’s pretty simple he said first scrum he said punch Greg darling in the head and I you know and for the people out there don’t know Greg darling his head’s as big as this wall in the back here and he’s a mean person you know and uh who I end up playing withing the kangaroos U few months later but uh I said all right Ron so I punched Greg daring the head first scrum I said what do you think will happen then he said I don’t think you’ll hurt him and he said and while he’s punching you in the head he said I’m going to get blocker to knock him clean out [Music] and I said run any chance of making blocker Vice Captain I thought we cut the middleman out here you know so anyway so that’s where me and me and uh blocker sort of start to get to know each other yeah and uh yeah one thing about blocker you didn’t get picked on too much when you when you when you putting your arm around him and he was he was a well he’s a great character too and and a tremendous player and I mean you know later later on I think you said to me we’re going to ask a question about you know who who can one of the questions about you going to ask me about who about the spawn which is the best spawn you ever had yeah well you know and I just start thinking you know St you know you start thinking sterlo and and and and just ch and any any think you want um uh you want to do steros today still there yeah you know if you want to have a golf they both are yeah like for me mewa well stl’s legs are not knees are not real good anymore and blockers getting a bit big but they both turn up and I I’ll get a backhander for that I’ll get a back in for that I won’t go with 100 yards of him so legs new are going actually Blocker still does walk he he still does walk with us he’s fit as a fiddle um oh hey don’t be backtracking now no well I’ll still get me backed don’t worry uh um but they they still you know come and help you out whenever they can you know and they’re just great as as I said they’re great company you always get a laugh when you turn up with them but as we went through that kangaroo tour and they’ll be quite honest I come out at the end of it and uh every one of them boys I went away with bloody all Champions you know and I’m not talking about football you know good BLS you know yeah well you you were the the starting Hocker in all three test matches against Great Britain it must have been a a a fantastic time and you know for me as a an Englishman to sit with with blocker and with ster it was honestly a privilege to to hear them talk and but one of the the funny things they spoke about was the the big guys versus the little guys wrestling each other in the in the pub is St all right you didn’t F too well in in well what s I didn’t tell you uh you know when you know lead by [Music] example I took on I thought well I’ll take the big big bloke out first up I charged into malinga bad decision bad decision he knocked me down he picked me up by me an Les like that went across went across to a hard little patch of dirt and bang me head like a jackhammer for I’d say a good good 20 hits you know then just left me there I can’t believe he strong at man is blood H strong as an ox yeah Roy one of the the stories um blocker and blocker and sto told me on that tour um is the time you threw yourself out of a nightclub yeah well well what happened uh that we we just wrapped up the series I think and we we won oh no no no sorry we we won our first first test so we’re all pretty excited about winning the first test over there and um we went we went back to this um particular nightclub where you know where we used to go you know when we won a game for Sunday something so we we’ve going back there and uh everyone’s in there and everyone’s enjoying themselves and uh having a bit of a drink and I I must have been getting a bit loud or whatever and a and a and a bouncer come across and he said this big man big man you know like bigger than blocker and all them you know he come over and he said you better make your way out when you finish that beard little fellow you’re making getting a bit loud and I looked at him I said mate there’s never been anyone good enough to put me out ever before and I said you won’t be the first one and and just before he was about to grab me I grabbed myself you know on the back of the back and by the trousers and I took across and I threw myself down the stairs you know then I hit the grass down the bottom and I said get down here big fellow where I got enough room to move I said I’ll slap you around you know and he was up the top and he he obviously knew I was just you know and he’s he’s shaking his head like this then he he’s broke into a bit of a laugh and he turned around I walked home and he went it so so that was all good anyway for the we’re there for three months so every Sunday he enjoyed this he enjoyed this every Sunday he’d walk across and he start laughing before he got to me he’d say fow yourself out oh sometimes it was early in the night I wasn’t even he wouldn’t even wait for his bit of entertainment I thought bloody hell I’m not even hardly had a drink and he’s got me frown myself out already really um they also are very complimentary about your dance moves I never did I might have might have did that’s it that’s it that’s exactly what they said the fing the finger pointing in the air broken ones look at them yeah um mate just Ju Just on that then were you the same in the same mindset of them where kangaroos was bigger than Origins like that was the Pinnacle m is look you you play state of origin uh obviously because you you want to uh win win for your for your state and you you get very passionate about it uh you know and back then you got to remember back then um or even before that New South Wales used to Wi to the state of origin sort of started up you know so yeah but you you um you you you play along cuz obviously you you want your state to win and you can you and you get very passionate about it and you you want to win more than than than you think you can and uh um but one of their main reasons was for it cuz I want to win one to keep one happy but I want to pull me green and gold jump it on two you know I want to play for me country there’s not a there’s not a better um I I can’t think of anything better than playing for your country throwing Grand finals throwing everything playing for your country has got to be the the biggest honor that you know and I dreamed of it from a kid you know I’m I used to follow St George as a kid and I used to get out and run around the backyard on me own scoring Tri calling myself Graham langland and Billy Smith and you know when you’re six or seven and all that sort of stuff them playing and and and and uh you know and as I said playing for New South Wales and I was lucky enough to be in a six 3-0 Series 1986 so I got picked onto the Australian side that you know and uh uh you know I’m not taking any anything away from beating Queensland cuz that’s that’s why you’re playing you’re playing there you want to win for your state you put everything on the line you try just as hard as you do for Australia but I I don’t think there’s anything better than standing there and and in a line up with your with your mates who plays for Australia looking up watching the your Australian crowd and the the the flag and you and singing the national anth and mate there’s nothing nothing better than that all Ming it yeah all Ming it in my case don’t put the other ones Out Of Tune yeah you know obviously you got family things that are more important but I’m talking about everything outside that do you think the modern day player miss out Roy that they don’t get that that kangaroo style tour they don’t get the it doesn’t appear as it appears origin has overtaken it but if if if International Football was where it could be like it was when you were playing like I know if you look rep football um International Football is here Origins going to above if if International football again went over the top of that yeah no no look yeah playing in National footy as I said is is in my opinion is the highest honor and and long way too f for your country you know doesn’t matter you know you get out there Coen land alongside New South Welshman or or anything Victorian if they want to they find one there but if you’re playing for your country is no better onor and I I I look going away and a a trip away like that 3 months in England there’s just the uh the bond and the friendship and the things you get for life you know like turn up the kangaroo reunion to me is just outstanding you know saying the boys or getting older and and uh you know hobbling around and carrying on winging and whining but still great time you know it’s uh it’s um you know what it’s hard to describe to be quite honest yeah very hard to describe but no greater honor in the world yeah I think it’s it’s like I I was fortunate to be a part of some fantastic England tours with the absolute time of my life it really was and don’t get me wrong I’ve had some great times at Club football over in England here in Australia as well but I suppose with the thing now with um you know the seasons you come back you’re preparing for the next season to come up um uh player I think part of the agreement now is you get eight I don’t know what it is but you get something like eight weeks holiday which the boys entitled to and want to get but uh you know I think a kangaroo tour again once every you know four years or something like that yeah make it special yeah like the Olympics is every four years the World Cups every four years and I think it and I think it is really great for particularly English Rog League it is to get them out there playing you know not only playing test but playing against the club sides you know as it was back then you got to remember you played 20 games yeah it was Sunday Wes wday Sunday but uh I don’t know ever get back to that but it’s I think there’s something that you know that would be maybe in the middle yeah a little bit longer and maybe you know the um not only play the test maybe you might be able to even poke your head down into Paris for a game or something the game’s down there trying to get going yeah so maybe even a game down around there uh Matt one of your big rivalries on the rep seen Benny Elias how how did you you you go up against him was it was it personal or uh I suppose suppose every time you play it’s in back in the old days when you’re hooking for the ball it’s always personal I mean you you know you had to get but um Benny was out standing player like um uh you know he’s his ability and oh well the the main one of his the main thing with Benny outside his abilities that was the speed he had to he was very quick for a hooker you know in in them days lot of pace and Ed ability to do things that some of the other Bookers couldn’t do you know he was abild and he’s his um um you know his runs out a dummy half and getting them out the advantage line and uh you know his ability to kick kick that well you know he had a lot had a lot of things in his game here F fantastic player I mean went on to I think you know went on to play or lot of Origins and and a lot of test yeah yeah and just just have a look at them and it just uh says what you know what a tremendous player he was and uh obviously back in our time look um you had to win the ball you know and uh um you know to keep your position in the side that sort of thing so you um and then the game started to gradually change a bit and I think probably you know Benny had a bit to do with that and then Steve Steve now wers said um you know he he looked like um and Kieran too they they uh the game started to change then camon and all them I’ve missed some good hookers out in the middle there but the G sort of started the Chang as the rules change too so you could you get out from marker a bit more and get to people and so on but uh you know U um there’s been a lot of uh good hookers over the time um mat it was an amazing career capped off with the Grand Final um but you weren’t done with Ruby League just yet you started out coaching I know you did a little bit with St Mary’s you end up over at Hall FC you spoke about you had couple of fantastic years there um at the start of the show you signed my old coach there’s hler um to come and play for you and hfc but there was a bit of bit of a process wasn’t there um can you can you just explain how how that came about and uh what you as a coach had to do to to bring over um the Australian Dez um well it was after our first season um of being coach of Hull was me I had a short period St Mary’s Hull come over they were doing some some interviews and um and I said to me wife I said I’m going to apply for this job just for experience I said I’m coaching St Marys now but I I’ll I’ll do this for experience you know and and uh could might learn something you know so anyway I applied for the the job at Hull and next thing um I’ve got the I’ve got the job and I just went bloody hell I’ve only been coaching for bloody three months and really haven’t got into played one or two games and uh so you know I got the job so um I went to St Mary’s and I said look you would believe this I’ve got a and they said look Roy that they said what a great Club they are the same Mar’s club and set up wonderfully and World running all that and uh they said um that’s our job mate to get players to a higher and better level so they said go with our blessings because that’s what we’re all about and and and that’s what they’ve been doing for years so um so I packed up went over the went over the hull and um uh got over there and at um one of me first meetings um we sat down and the the three people that come over to interview us were at the meeting of course the the chairman the vice chairman and one other and but there was another chap there I didn’t know on the board obviously six or seven on the board um and uh this is me first meeting just arrived and he he says to me uh you know anyone want to ask Roy any questions about yeah odd what do you let players do you let players uh misbehave and don’t turn up they late for training and I’d say no no you got to have discipline you got to have do you let players do you let players so this went on for 10 minutes do you let play I said excuse me Mr chairman I said if this board member pokes his finger at me one more time I was going to bite it off with the knuckle and shove it up his ass and so I got up to walk out I thought well you know I’ll go and pack me bags and I’m flying home you know and he said you might be all right and the other all the other chairman they all fell off the chairman the V they fell off their seats laughing because they knew what Rich was like Anyway Mo and Richard and our best mates so that happened there so that’s that’s how I sort of got over there and then when I get over there um we had our first season and uh I think the year before they finished second last or something so I moved him up the ladder two or three you know we just missed I think we finished ninth out of the to that a top eight at the time we finished night but you know we were we were struggling and we you know wasn’t you know the whole people were wanted a lot more of they very passionate good people they are people but very passionate um and uh so they wanted and I said to one of these sponsors one day I said mate any can you find some money for us or something I said we need to buy some players and and the BL said to me why don’t you do something yourself come over here expecting things and all that and I’m there he’s having a little Potter Bell you do it see so I’m there and at this stage I’ve been I just finished playing football decided I wouldn’t train much for the first while I’m coaching got caught up you know with all that sort of stuff during the season watching videos whatever and I’m I’ve went from 86 Kos to about 98 K I was pretty big when we only 5 fo1 to he says me why don’t you get off and do something and promote something yourself and I said all right I said if I run a marathon I said will you give me $1,000 and he says ,000 yeah and he says yeah I will all right I said I run five and you give me £5,000 and he was too scared to oh he you know well all right I I’ll do that you won’t you fat blooder you won’t run so anyway um next day I’m out on the road so I’m thinking 5,000 there and I’m thinking well you know we’ll get some other sponsors around it and promote it and whatever so I I locked myself in the Run of five marathons in five days and and and I had about uh had a period of about 3 months before I had to get ready or before I could sort of get down for the weight I was so I just went running every day and I started running around a block then I made it two blocks then I made it three blocks then I made it four blocks then I got up the you know 15 16 m a day then right up pushed it right up to about 20 m a day before uh then I think I run two or three marathons before you know probably a week apart or something before um um I decided to do the five you know well um I don’t I don’t think I ever run a full Marathon I think I got up to about um yeah what is it was 24 it’s 42k whatever it is I’d say I’d run some 30 35k or something cuz I didn’t want to run a whole Marathon then you know see what it’s like so Jesus so I end up running yeah five uh five marathons in 5 days yeah and end up getting I won’t say the figure Dez might end up in in jail it was it was money from over in England it was English money he got it was he can’t get into trouble here cuz it’s not a he I know what you’re saying I don’t know how much he bought back you know yeah mate that is so we end up that’s just mate that you know what the when you said we need some money for sponsors why you do something you don’t throw your toys out the cart well well I will so yeah so will you watch this yeah so anyway it ended up uh we ended up earning enough money to pay for for Deads to come over you run the five marathons was it worth it yeah my word my word it was Dez was uh Dez come over and he’s killing him you know we we got him in a nice little village really he loved it he he loved being over there he liked the fans the fans were all green on him um and he’s um you know when he he’s absolutely killing him then this particular day we’re playing at Hull and it was a like you remember you playing it in the winter back playing in the winter so it was right in the middle of winter and um we we go out and uh we’re playing Witness and um I think at half time the score was I think we’re in front 42 or 62 or something and uh cuz it it was it was minus 3 or four the wind was just haing up the thing you know the old Bou yeah there’s water you know and each right over the field it was it was frozen so Dez comes in he’s sitting in the corner and I look across and this is without exaggeration he’s he’s like that you know and he’s he’s shaking and bloody wrong with their and I said DOC come here said what’s wrong with de he said he’s got hyperia mate he said that’s what’s wrong with him I said Can Hurt Him He said can kill him and I said oh geez uh I said all right I’m going to see the referee Ser we call the game off I said we got players in there you know hypothermia and whatever he said we’ll have to see the coach on the other side and he’s got to agree to call it off so I went and seen him and um he said no we got the win second half so so I said to Dez mate you can’t go back out he said I’m going back out Roy I said mate you can’t go back out the doc said you he said I’m going back I to give what you say I’m going back on the field and that’s his attitude you know so all the big boys were all all right you know the blacks carrying a bit of body fat they were all right all the skinny Fells they were doing it tough cu no body fats so Dez goes back out plays the game we finish the game I don’t think the score changed I think it was just you know both sides were too cold to do anything um but Dez was buggered then for I’d say the next four or five weeks really he played but he but it wiped him no he wasn’t like he was just murdering him and that probably five it’s probably could have even been longer than that he had a six week period where he was just he wasn’t terrible but it wasn’t a Dez as that carves you up you know he was just doing his job and getting it done and and that happened and I think I think we finished about ninth again that year and I got no doubt at all if if Dez had a played we would have finished in the top six or something yeah yeah wow so it was um but it was he entertained the crowd at the start of that year and the back end of that year like they loved him yeah was was one of the better things I’ve I’ve done for for English football anyway yeah well um you return a few years later uh you coaching me at St Helens uh it was a a funny old crew um some characters within that team what did you make of it when you when you landed at Saints uh that was probably I was was only there a bit over a year that year was the best um year of my coaching what when I say coaching I went to Hull I wasn’t ready I went back to pen I probably wasn’t ready um the start of it then um you know then when I got to the back end of it and started to sort of you know realize what you’re doing it was sort of over and and um then after spending a little bit of time with Tim sh I was I really thought you know well a lot of time with Tim shes I really thought I was ready to coach and uh I I enjoyed that year at St ens by I’m just I loved it I loved it was it was just really enjoyed going to work every day training with bles who you know who were super professional wanted to learn always wanted to get better um and M we’ ever been rude between bles like yourself Paul wellin and and robes you when you got leaders like you bles I see the current penr side you know they got good leaders very similar to you BLS all had good leaders and uh um it was uh it was a job I enjoyed like none other and I’m I’m and I still think um if we hadn’t lost sort of three backs in that GRE should won the injury Gods destroyed us that day we we were we were we were we were flying and we lose three outside backs in the space of about 6 minutes with about 25 minutes to go no yeah and then so we get beaten but I mean you never know whether you would have won or lost but I thought I was I was confident in myself sitting in in the in the Box I wasn’t happy um for certain parts of the first half cuz we seemed a bit bit scared to probably do what we normally do but after after that period we would were on fire yeah so we then we lost a a few players so mate that was far as uh coaching goes and and and the other even the other day when we just went back there to see um Paul again and uh um you know robes come and see me about four times you know and uh and uh and and I just continually break run into players that you know old BLS we used to see and everything it was just was a fantastic nine or 10 days yeah it was good m it was H well I I I really enjoyed it I learned a lot from you and some of the things I picked up that um always doing the skills to start a session that was that was big um and I really enjoyed our time together fun funny story I got from um from one of the lads at the Griffin yeah said that you you you came to the to the Griffin and some of the to to meet your your crew of mates that that you that you that you’d met over in in St Helens and the The Lads were there as well so it’s not like well when I say the lads that some of the players were there and we we were never trying to disguise it that we were out um and apparently you’ve turned around to to one of the one of your friends and said like tell you what if um if anyone stinks stinks a piss tomorrow at training they’re not playing this weekend and then one of them’s gone to a wool one if James Roby stinks a piss and you said I’m not going to go anywhere near him that’s right it he might get mil he’s a good player Rose is he he’s bril he’s a brilliant player i’ Lov to have seen him come over here yeah yeah I did uh I reckon he would have been brilliant here yeah he had all the things that uh you know he and one of them being Pace you know I mean you can’t beat speed you know and he had a school level to go I remember remember saying to him do you have a Ki he said no I said well you are now that was you know after i’ been there put him in the kicking thing he just talk to it didn’t he yeah he jumped at dummy kicking the ball but he you know just brilliant player whatever whatever you ask of him to do then I remember um rabes on another day um I he he played it was a short turnaround you know I think we played over a Sunday and we were playing of a Friday or something like that and uh the week before he he made you know with his 50 tackles like he makes every time he run the ball buy 20 times as or something and I said to him robes he turned up Monday morning I said mate just do a circle out and go home and I’ll see you the captain’s run I said just relax go I’m never P that’s not how I work mate said that’s not how it work I said he said I can’t do that might go home you don’t see too many players say that he wouldn’t take time off to just get over recovery said I don’t operate that yeah he’s a different breed James Robby he’s got some ticker as well yeah like he’s got some heart um yeah the funny thing about about you coming that was the year I was I was coming over and you you were trying to convince me to stay you had the tigers um staff as well didn’t you just didn’t didn’t they Ed to mess cuz I was speaking with the Tigers weren’t they messaging you asking for what my sizes were to the get me f out idiot well might yeah well again M uh not try you always um your St of footy was I didn’t want to lose you know cuz uh cuz at the time you know you’re still running the ball a lot of MERS for me and and you were bringing that second option as a ball player intoo you know playing one or two off The Ruck you know it just brought so much V give you so much more variation uh and as I said you’re attitude to um earlier on about your attitude you know having as I said we having the three as their leaders it was you know it was just um it’s what I didn’t want to lose but uh anyway you didn’t care give me that one finger and said see you later jump the fence funy like an extended holiday the big cash please M was what are um I’ve always wanted to ask you a thing uh it must have been how your sides were playing cuz when youve originally come over you were you were playing or similar to the way you did at St ens but then all of a sudden uh the following well lot know was following you but at the latest stage in your career you were used more of just a yardage man just coaches coaches yeah just coaches changing play yeah just wanted to I think that that ball ball playing I think it we probably overused it and then underused it yeah the middle yeah I think ywi pen I think he’s got the mixed he’s got it spot on but he’s got good players around to make it work and and it’s another variation you saying you didn’t uh no no no I’m not saying that at all picking up on [ __ ] out edit no no he um he’s got some very well we didn’t have Nathan clear you p [ __ ] trying to get a little bit of payback in um just just on that what what do you make of the the current Prem team like what’s it like for you as the um one of the first well the first Premiership winner there person that’s seen them win Wooden Spoons you’ve coached there you’ve got this Dynasty now what what what what what do you feel when you watch that team uh I I just even love watching them train I watch them trying and the the effort they put in is outstanding and they’re always doing you know always doing a lot of you know skills and and drills and and whatever or whether it’s a a hard fitness center don’t matter what it is uh you know they’ll have a bit of music going they’ll be getting flogged and but they’re enjoying it you know they got a big music going on it’s not like a chore for them it’s not like they’re going there you know like I remember you know the old or old days or something you’d be thinking well um you know I’ve just finished work now I’ve got to go the bloody train Oh They’ll flog the hell out of us today you know and whatever you know and I and I’d imagine some of the some um players or people would think when they go on the train to day oh gez we’re not going to get fed the pen boys don’t seem to worry about they just seem to turn up they love what they’re doing you know they got a bit of music going in the background whatever uh they love what they’re doing the leaders just lead them off and that’s just what we do and that’s what we love doing and they just seem to really enjoy all parts of it you know and uh that’s what um that’s what I like about them it’s it’s not a chore it’s just you know the the game day obviously comes on and they go up to another level but it it’s not like you know it’s overdone but um you know the only thing that that does worry me is uh like at some stage and there should be some ruling on it um but some of the a lot of the players now like every year they lose three or four players I think if you go back to the year they got beaten in the Grand Final yeah I think out of their top 30 they’ve lost about 20 players or something and and and and now they’re even over the last year or two they’re not only taking players out of the top 30 other clubs are coming along and purchasing players that are not even in the top 30 but they’re they’re players they think in the you know so they’re losing a lot of they’re losing a lot of uh players that they’ve put a lot of time into that they’ve add in their their Pathways and everything coming through and educating them and getting them ready to play and it and uh you you you’d think at some stage it it just might catch up for you know maybe for a year here maybe for a year there I’m not I’m not quite sure but at this stage um you know they look as as good and as positive as ever you know at some stage I I think there should be some reward for bringing players through and I agree yeah and and you know on you know a lot of it was um you know I think there always talking about you know if you buy a play you’re going to get extra more money the leaps are different rules I think they should come up with something that you know they know better about than what I’m talking but I think there’s got to be something coming up where you you you get rewarded for putting a lot of money a lot of time a lot of coaching expert penr penr is the biggest Junior League obviously so they got a lot of players there but some stage they got to get rewarded for being the biggest Junior League and doing what they do well because they put a lot of time and resources into it’s not just we’ve got the biggest so we necessarily the best it’s we’ve got a% and they work it they work it really well and you mean they got a a lot of St they pay a lot of money to do it you know um so I think there should be some reward along the lines that that in the end makes makes other clubs actually go out and start promotion get get to the schools get to whever and try to get rather than just yeah let pen do all the hard yards and then yeah no I agree Roy it’s something that um I think it needs to be addressed because it’s not fair on oh well when you say it’s not fair on pth they’re getting the success but then it makes it even more challenging for them yeah look I understand a lot of other clubs are probably doing things that I don’t know about and all that too but there’s got to be some reward even for them clubs yeah yeah it’s not just for pen it’s for any club that yeah yeah no I agree um Roy we do four questions for each and every guest um the dream spine you one six seven and nine and’s current with you in instead of Mitch canny or no no I just didn’t make it I’ll be I’m Reserve so you’ve got Edwards Lei clear M the reason I say it rugby league is like anything else it’s like uh you know it’s like the new car you get you get up the road it goes better and better than the car the year year before you know and M you know all the sports people get the swimmers in the swimming pool all swimming quick quick at times they’re all doing everything so if you ask me who’s the best B the one of last year’s one last year’s Grand Final is the best ball I like that it’s just life yeah doctors are doing better things everything’s getting better so so I’ll just go with the and I can’t get any backhanders from any me footballers mate you know what I I would never do it like you know when people say you dream 13 because I does people take it way too personally yeah oh you left me out fing hell like well I just picked the best on fair enough um if football didn’t exist Roy what do you think you would have done uh I I I was a green keeper out in the country and like a gardener or green keeper look after Bowling Greens and um golf courses and things like that so I’d imagine wasn’t for football I’d be I would have tried to be a a cricketer I I would have tried to be a wicket keeper but I I don’t think my uh my batting ability or my Wicket keeping ability probably get me into too many sides so I think I’d be playing an old frustrated Wicket keeper out in uh in the bush somewhere and and on the and on the the middle of the week I’d be mowing Bowling Greens or golf courses that’s all fair play um a sliding doors moment in your life where you think about other thing happening again explain to me this loing door I thought you walk through but anyway you do but sometimes you miss them um so say for me if I think well if it have stayed in England so a decision that if You’ if it would have gone the other way if You’ have gone the other way if I went the other way it’s not the way you went so well the biggest sliding well put this the biggest sliding door for familiar it might be the wrong way around uh is is when Barry rushworth who was spoke about earlier rang um well L Stucker rang Barry rushworth and asked was there any good players out at um out in group 10 and he said me uh and if if Lenny hadn’t a Rong me the biggest thing I would I would have tried to get a run at South yeah and if it didn’t if it hadn’t to happen I would have went back to the bush I wouldn’t have come back again I’d already been twice I wouldn’t come back again I would have entered the bush and being a probably a captain coach and a green Cooper and a captain coach uh so um my my sliding door was was that uh Lenny stacker who was my first coach who give me my first game was a wonderful was a great coach bit before his time and uh uh so uh yeah that’ be more sliding door that made any sense it did it did um finally the most interesting person you’ve met oh that year could be that I’m if you change it to different do you know what I’m not bought this all but one of my favorite things up coming into TR do you remember the thing me and Lou used to do to you where we’ look up and throw the ball back to you in the middle of a drill but we’d look above your head and then throw it at your knees you’d be like be always blown up every session I reckon I got you every session would be too hard yeah the most probably interesting I would be Tim shs yes you know what I thought you’d you were going to see him Tim was always looking for some Advantage something new something different always always you know always after very you know very honest man very you know very fair man but it was always looking for something new to give you an edge to get somewhere as as individual like he I remember Tim coming to me Roy you know you going to get to the next level we’ got a um fitness-wise we got a thing called eat to wind diet you know we going to do what was an eat to wind diet eat to win D it was called eat to win it was um natural over the good tennis player mun natural over yeah eat the wind diet so eat the wind diet she used to use and and one it was one Tim’s always Tim was always reading looking for you know advantages especially uh like Tim bought a lot of skills into the game like it was before people actually did skill you know you do your running you do your ball workor you do your weights or whatever but Tim started skills before I’d ever seen him and he got little skills and drills going all over the place and do him so he’s always looking for the advantage you know uh he’ have dieticians come the the training well before anyone else was doing it you know and trying to get ways of doing this you know uh and he was one of around about the time with a few others that started to bring in the weights and so he was always looking for advantages like as I said dieticians doctors you know physio always looking for for something he was always looking for an edge that could help you help you win so we we spoke to him on this podcast and he was just yeah like a fountain of rugby league knowledge and somebody that just like loves the game yeah so he he was always in into that sort of thing always looking for an advantage and and that’s why he’s so successful as a coach and for so long yeah all right Royce well um we’ll get let you get back to Roy Simmons’s Palace Main Street gulong Main Street gong um I really appreciate this Roy um than man it’s been a a pleasure to call you a coach but more importantly a friend and um I think what you’re doing in the in the dementia space and and trying to help people is very commendable and you’re attacking it the right way um you really are it’s been a pleasure I’m sure our listeners will um will take a lot from this and um I think the listeners will take a lot for it if you don’t cut out the times I got on top of you [Laughter] do you remember that M do you remember that Mad do you remember that Mad Monday and I had you on my shoulders might might happen again what about i’ I’d walked into the bar you listening out there yeah I I walked into the bar like every we got beaten in the Grand Final so we’re all disappointed everyone so I went back with them had a few drinks and I thought I’ll let the boys go they want to be on their own so I went back home to bed then I woke up you know next morning it was about 10:00 I thought oh better go and see how the boys are going see everything okay so I walked down into one of the nice bars down at um the middle of St Helen’s and uh any he went I I run into a couple of Blakes there I knew you want to drink yeah yeah gives a beer and anyway I got the beer and we’re standing there having the beer I just put the first mouthful to me mouth dancing gum’s here hits me hits me with a full-on tackle honest to God right in the middle of me back of honest to God you could have might honest to God you could have fed a jet cracket into my ass me ass was going like that ass was going like that it was I picked you I picked you up as well didn’t I you honest to God they were good times jet cracket you could have feed a straight into me ring I was just saying hello I was I was surp I was happy you’d come you’d come back yeah I was a bit annoyed You’ G for a sleep but oh well you you let me know all about that all right Roy it’s been fantastic thank you so much hope it wasn’t too much stop start no it was perfect manate it really was
17 Comments
Im a raiders fan but a big admirer of the great Royce simmons !!awesome get lads
1991, Penrith's first GF win and Royce's last game, he plays an epic game, scored 2 tries, they gave the Clive to Bradley Clyde in a losing side.
James, first of all…absolutely love yr podcast mate. Total respect.
Second, how do I get one of those Bye Round Tshirts?
James, It's said dementia is likened to an earthquake shaking a tall bookcase. The books on the top shelf go first, then the second top shelf … the bottom shelf, and then the second bottom shelf. The books that remain because of the structure of the bookcase and where they're placed are those books in the THIRD shelf. Patients better recall the good memories of their 30s. They need to sit and talk with the people who lived those moments and years, when the PATIENT was in his 30s,.with them. And that one person they trusted most in the world – they still trust the most, and need the most.
The nicest tribute I ever heard was: "she lived her life in sunshine and in shadow. We acknowledge the shadow over her life and now honour the sunshine that was her life".
Great choice of guest again and excellent as always Jammer. Even when he was coaching The S I used to refer to Royce as Rolge Simmond after his name was printed that way in one of the 86 tour programmes (probably the Saints one). The Hull stuff was great. Helps to make sense about what happened to them. Funny to hear they've always been as well run as it is today 😀
I was at City v Chelsea too, wasn't a great game but they did an interview on the pitch with some of the Penrith guys, although can't remember who it was, maybe Yeo and someone else. My old man passed away after a period of dementia. It's a tough ride for all involved. Wishing all the best for Rolge and his family.
Raiders cheated and broke the salary cap in 1990. Penrith was robbed. Also Royce pushed over Lazarus to score his second try in the 1991 GF
Thanks Royce, thank you. Jimmy, you do good also.
What a great panthers, nsw, Australian ledgend great
1991 was the best gf from my younger years
loved the chat Royce
Great podcast
It seems that Dementia is like cancer. Maybe stress related, bad diet, and of course head clashes, who knows. Wish we knew how to help people not to get it. My mum diet with it and when she finally passed, it was a blessing in many ways. I hope I don't get it and need my family to support me.
Had a few beers with royce last year and what an absolute legend of a guy … exactly how he is in this interview.
The 13 man import was the equivalent of the salary cap restrictions back then Jimmy lad, so looking at the teams on paper the imports had a asterisk beside their names…few dodgy dealers back then don't worry about that…3 times as strong in the juniors at all clubs too mate , in all districts, quite sad to see. Great having a beer with Roycey at rosehill the day octagonal won the guineas.
What an absolute Penrith legend Royce is very humble about his career he was one of the toughest players ive seen.great leader and inspired the group of young players at penrith to the first premiership.I watched it in 91 at the eastlakes hotel in sydney..ended up on one of the little round pub tables yelling & celebrating with a few mates,one of the best days of my life..
What a competitor Royce was played himself into the ground very game,got a knock in origin,got up & played the ball the wrong way..kept going..this was a great chat with James Graham loved it well done.
Might just go watch 91 grand final again..
Top yarn! They don’t make em like Royce anymore! Absolute gem!
Now that you're getting that 360 money Jammer can you stop plugging the multi-level marketing athletic greens crap to young naive punters?
Royce is a legend of a bloke and footy player.
Thanks for getting him on James, such a great yarn. Wish we got to see the Royce a lot of people know when their is no cameras rolling, one of the funniest and happy go lucky personalities you will ever meet.
All the best Royce us Panthers supporters will ALWAYS have you in our thoughts and prayers, love ya mate.🖤💛❤️💚
I remember the look on dad’s face back then he was so proud of being from Penrith and it made his whole year in 91.
I really enjoyed this interview Jamer. I too young to remember Royce but he's a great storey teller 😂
Its nice that this interview will forever capture a point in time that Royce could recall all of these amusing anecdotes. He's a great story teller. And it is a awesome testament of his character that he is raising money for the condition that will eventually strip him of all this as it has done so many other great old story tellers. It's a very cruel disease 😔