When Brad Fittler was asked why he was joining up with Royce Simmons for the second edition of Royce's Big Walk, he gave a simple answer.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
"Because Royce asked me," he said.
It's that kind of drop-everything-and-help attitude which amazes Simmons, but doesn't necessarily surprise him.
The walk - to raise awareness of the threat of dementia and to help raise funds for research - began at Kintyre Living at Dubbo on Tuesday and will finish at Bathurst on Saturday, April 29 as the Penrith Panthers and Wests Tigers do battle for the Royce Simmons Cup in an NRL clash at Carrington Park.
READ ALSO:
Andrew Farrar, another premiership-winning great, was also at Dubbo to do his bit to help Simmons, who announced early last year he had been diagnosed with onset Alzheimer's disease at the age of 61.
More than 20 high-profile rugby league identities will be part of the walk this month, with the likes of Les Davidson, Garry Jack, Terry Lamb, Paul Sironen, Peter Mortimer and Ronnie Palmer among them.
The trek will visit places like Parkes, Forbes, Eugowra and Orange with many of the famous faces joining for a leg or two along the way.
"It's fantastic," Simmons said of that support.
"But it doesn't surprise me because the rugby league community is very tight-knit together and they all support each other, especially if someone needs help.
"It's very much like living out here in the country. Country people jump in and support you and rugby league people are very similar."
![Royce Simmons (centre) with Andrew Farrar and Brad Fittler before the start of Royce's Big Walk at Dubbo. Picture by Nick Guthrie Royce Simmons (centre) with Andrew Farrar and Brad Fittler before the start of Royce's Big Walk at Dubbo. Picture by Nick Guthrie](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/dCXpDgwTEgA52iNCe5aWtJ/ee971313-a5a8-475d-baab-b1c128a7527c.JPG/r0_429_3935_2611_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Simmons hails from Gooloogong - the small town roughly 30 minutes from Forbes - and started his first Big Walk there last year and went all the way to Penrith.
He raised more than $1 million then and said the dream would be to do the same this year and help those affected directly and indirectly by one of the most deadly diseases across the globe.
"This walk is important because dementia is the biggest killer of women in the world and the second biggest killer of men," he said.
"I think in Australia right now there's over 400,000 people with dementia and it will quickly rise to about 800,000.
"It takes 1.5 million people to look after those people and people see me and see that I have dementia but they do not see the product further on.
"In a few years I'll forget how to eat and forget how to do everything. You forget who your children are and who your wife is.
"It's a terrible disease and it affects your family and everyone around you.
"It needs fixing and I've got a lot of passion for it."
Last year's walk helped fund three research program and Simmons hopes through his efforts a step towards finding a cure can be made.
As well as meaning a huge amount to Simmons, the beginning of Tuesday's walk was special for people like Fittler.
'Freddy' came through the ranks at Penrith as a youngster while Simmons was a club legend who had scored two famous tries in the Panthers' first grand final win in 1991.
The relationship between the pair has come a long way since Fittler's debut for the club.
"I still remember my first game. I chipped and chased and we scored a try," Fittler said on Tuesday.
"It was my first touch and it ended up a try.
"It was on the third tackle and Royce came up and grabbed me by the throat and said 'if you kick the ball on the third tackle again, I'll kill you.'
"I thought okay, that's something we don't do," Fittler added with a laugh.
A brash youngster in those times, Fittler also had an earring then and laughed again at Dubbo while telling the story of Simmons being the one to rip it off him.
"We didn't wear earrings after that," Fittler said.
![Brad Fittler (left) was enjoying the chance to be part of Royce's Big Walk again at Dubbo on Tuesday. Picture by Nick Guthrie Brad Fittler (left) was enjoying the chance to be part of Royce's Big Walk again at Dubbo on Tuesday. Picture by Nick Guthrie](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/dCXpDgwTEgA52iNCe5aWtJ/047c173d-55f7-4ae9-ae4b-21aebbe3bc30.JPG/r572_486_4288_2849_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Those memories also brought a laugh from Simmons, who was asked whether those reactions were the result of his country upbringing.
"Yes," he smiled.
More stories will be swapped along the way to Bathurst as Simmons and his supporters will hold a number of lunches, dinners and clinics for junior footy clubs along the way.
It started on Monday night with an event at Wellington for the junior Cowboys and supporting that next generation of bush footy players is also something close to Simmons' heart.
"Last year we went through my little home town of Gooloogong and to Cowra and Blayney and Lithgow and we got to go to all those junior league places," he said.
"This time we thought we'd go to a different area. Particularly around this area where it's so related to Penrith and so many players from this area go to Penrith.
"We thought we'd support the junior league up here and try to help some places which have been through some hard times the last few years."
Royce's Big Walk began shortly after 8am on Tuesday and the first leg took the trio of Simmons, Fittler and Farrar to Wambangalang.
Anyone wishing to donate to Royce's Big Walk can visit https://roycesbigwalk.com.au/.
Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app here. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens.