Tariq Sims ready to fight for his Dragons future as The Storm are linked with a swoop
Tariq Sims says he is nowhere near the end of his NRL career following reports the Melbourne Storm could offer him a contract for the 2023 NRL campaign.
Sims is up for grabs next season after St George Illawarra said they would not offer him a new deal. The Dragons told the second-rower last year that he was free to leave. However he opted to stay put and see his deal out with the Dragons.
The 32-year-old has not given up all hope of staying with the Red V. He has returned to fitness following a calf injury and is determined to prove his worth to coach Anthony Griffin.
Tariq Sims ready to battle
Despite there still being no offer on the table, Sims says he will battle for his future.
“Anything is possible,” he told reporters. “You go out there and play as a hard as you can for a team and when your time comes, your time comes. All I can control is how good I am playing, what I am doing for the boys and how I am approaching training and making sure we are going out there to win footy games.”
Should the Dragons stick to their guns and let Sims go, the New South Wales representative will have options. The Storm are said to be one but it could depend on them having room on the salary cap.
A player of Sims’ quality would no doubt attract offers from Super League. Either way Sims says he is far from done and has plenty of good footy ahead of him.
“I’m nowhere near the end,” Sims added. “I’m probably the fittest and strongest that I’ve ever been in my whole career.
“It’s no secret the start of my career was injury plagued, but that’s given me the longevity I’ve needed to stay in the game. I’m firing on all cylinders to be brutally honest.”
State of Origin hopes
For now the focus has to be the Dragons. They have had a poor start to the 2022 NRL campaign and sit 1-4. They face the Knights on Easter Sunday and are in need of a win.
Sims is keen to help turn around the fortunes and he knows both he and the Dragons need to be going well if he is to play State of Origin for New South Wales again this year.
“Freddie (Brad Fittler) has made it very clear in previous Origins that he’d be picking from teams that are doing well,” Sims said. “I wholeheartedly agree with that.”