Hail David Simmons, the Panthers' unsung hero

I’ve been a Panthers fan for as long as I remember, so I’ve learnt the name of all the club heroes.

Royce Simmons scored two tries in the 1991 grand final, securing Penrith their first premiership. Greg Alexander is our one and only Dally M winner, taking out the gong in 1985.

Ryan Girdler was a point-scoring machine, Mark Geyer was hard as bolts, and Craig Gower was captain fantastic.

And who could forget Scott Sattler and that tackle?

Today, the Penrith Panthers are made up of up-and-coming heroes like Matt Moylan, Bryce Cartwright, Josh Mansour and Dallin Watene-Zelezniak. But 2015 has been tough, with most of these players missing large chunks of the season through injury.

We lost some great players through retirement as well, such as Nigel Plum and Brett Kite, and one of the most underrated men to play the game, David Simmons.

David Simmons made his NRL debut in 2003 for the Sharks. He arrived at the Panthers in 2010 and quickly fit into life at the foot of the mountains. Strong under the high ball, consistent, hard-working and highly underestimated, Simmons has been a favourite of mine for many seasons.

I was devastated when I heard Simmo was retiring. He has been a fantastic asset to the Panthers for the past six seasons and he will be sadly missed.

His final game, at Penrith Stadium, was a memorable one; Panthers versus Knights in a wooden spoon ‘play off’. The Panthers won 30-12, with Simmons scoring the last conversion of the game and would have scored a try but for being unluckily chased down by Tariq Sims.

He received a stirring reception late in the game and will be sadly missed.

Personally, I’ll remember the under-rated Simmons as being Mr Reliable. All the best for the future!