Simms played his entire first grade career for South Sydney with whom he won four premierships and was top point-scorer for four consecutive seasons.

[8] It has been said of Simms, and specifically his ability to kick field goals, that he's "one of the few men whose influence was such it single-handedly changed the game".

[9][10] Eric Simms was born in Karuah, New South Wales on 2 August 1945, the eldest son John (Jack) Simms, an Ullugundy Island man, who came to Karuah to live for a while before moving to La Perouse in Sydney.

He played in the centres for Souths’ grand finalist team which lost to St George (12 – 8) before a then record crowd of 78,056; Simms scored the last points in the game with a penalty goal.

[8][14] Simms went on to play 206 first grade games, including grand final winning teams in 1967, 1968, 1970 and 1971, scoring a total of 1,841 career points.

[1][15] In 1969, he broke the record for the most points scored in a premiership season with 265, previously held by Dave Brown of Eastern Suburbs.

The final, played at Leeds in November, 1970 has been described "as the most savage international ever played" and "a running brawl"; after the full-time whistle, with Australia having won, Simms offered a handshake to the English winger, John Atkinson, who responded by head-butting Simms.

[16] After the 1975 season, Simms moved to Crookwell, New South Wales, with his wife Sue and three children, Brendon, Kristie and Simone where he was captain-coach in 1976 until an arm injury (sustained in a tackle) forced his playing retirement at age 31.

[6] The team was chosen by a panel chaired by then Senator Aden Ridgeway, a former South Sydney junior league player and then deputy leader of the Australian Democrats in the Australian Senate; other panel members were Ian Heads (rugby league journalist and historian),[18] Frank Hyde, Roy Masters and David Middleton (a rugby league historian).

The Eric Simms Challenge was described by the Rabbitohs' marketing manager as "a salute to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island players, past and present" and was a match between the NRL Rabbitohs team and a representative Aboriginal team, the Murdi Paaki Warriors, a development side from western New South Wales ("from the Queensland border, across to Burren Junction in the east, to Gulargambone in the south-east, through to Bourke, Cobar, Ivanhoe and down to the Victorian border").