Commonly nicknamed "Roy", he was a key member of two World Cup winning squads. Symonds was a part of the team that won both the 2003 Cricket World Cup, and four years later the 2007 Cricket World Cup. Symonds played as a right-handed, middle order batsman and alternated between medium pace and off-spin bowling. He was also notable for his exceptional fielding skills.

After mid-2008, Symonds spent significant time out of the team, due to disciplinary reasons, including alcohol. In June 2009, he was sent home from the 2009 World Twenty20, his third suspension, expulsion or exclusion from selection in the space of a year. His central contract was then withdrawn, and many cricket analysts speculated that the Australian administrators would no longer tolerate him, and that Symonds might announce his retirement. Symonds eventually retired from all forms of cricket in February 2012, to concentrate on his family life.

In 2022, Symonds died in a single-vehicle car crash at Hervey Range, outside Townsville, Queensland. He was 46.