Ashton Sims

Ashton Sims
Personal information
Born (1985-02-26) 26 February 1985[1]
Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia
Height 193 cm (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight 111 kg (17 st 7 lb)[1]
Playing information
Position Prop, Second-row

Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2003–07 St. George Illawarra Dragons 81 9 0 0 36
2008–10 Brisbane Broncos 56 2 0 0 8
2011–14 North Queensland Cowboys 91 2 0 0 8
2015– Warrington Wolves 50 5 0 0 20
Total 278 18 0 0 72
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–14 Fiji 10 0 0 0 0
Source: NRL Stats,

Ashton Sims (born 26 February 1985 in Sutherland, New South Wales) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who currently plays for the Warrington Wolves in the Super League. A Fiji international representative forward, he previously played for St. George Illawarra Dragons, Brisbane Broncos and North Queensland Cowboys.

Playing career

While attending Kiama High School in 2002, Sims was selected to play for the Australian Schoolboys team.[2] He played his junior football for the Gerringong Lions.[3]

St. George-Illawarra Dragons

Sims played for his local NRL club, St George Illawarra Dragons, from 2003 to 2007, making his NRL début against the Penrith Panthers in round nine of the 2003 season. In 2004 he suffered a suspected broken jaw, having been elbowed in a wayward shoulder charge by Newcastle's Clint Newton. Newton was sent off and suspended for twelve weeks. Sims however managed to play out the game.[4][5] During the 2007 season, the Dragons told Sims he was no longer wanted at the club, and he signed for the Brisbane Broncos on a three-year contract starting in 2008.[6] He played 81 NRL matches for the Dragons over five seasons. Ashton Sims was one of the club youngest debutants in the History of the club. .

Brisbane Broncos

Sims in action for Broncos

Sims made his Brisbane Broncos début in the Round 1, 2008 clash against reigning wooden spooners, the Penrith Panthers, in a 48–12 win. Later that year, an elimination semi-final against the Melbourne Storm, Sims started the match in the back-row. The Broncos were leading at the time, but went on to lose the game in the final minute, after Sims dropped the ball with two minutes remaining in the match, which led to the match winning try by Greg Inglis. Sims described it as "one of the low points" of his career. Sims played almost 60 games for the club and was one of the club's highest paid players, he played in the back-row and in the front row during his time at the Broncos.[7]

Shortly after the Broncos' semi-final exit, Sims was named in the Fiji squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup[8] and was later confirmed for the final squad. He had only visited Fiji once in his life—for a holiday—but qualified to play for the country because his mother was born there.[7] He was Fiji's starting second-rower for all four of their matches; Fiji qualified for the tournament's semi-final for the first time.[9]

Sims fell out of the Broncos' starting line-up early in the 2009 season, finding himself playing for the Norths Devils in the Queensland Cup.[10] He was recalled to the Broncos' first thirteen for the team's finals campaign, in which they fell one match short of qualifying for the Grand Final.[11] However, he only played nine NRL matches in the following season, and in August signed to play for the North Queensland Cowboys in 2011.[12]

North Queensland Cowboys

Sims moved to North Queensland with his younger brother, Tariq, who had played in the Broncos' Under-20s team.[13] He played in 24 matches for the Cowboys in the 2011 season, and was a substitute for their qualifying final loss to Manly. Ashton Sims led the way for NRL props in offloads in 2011, making 42 to his team mates.

Sims hit career best form for the Cowboys in 2012 averaging 108 metres and 22 tackles, he did an admirable job in the Cowboys starting pack while rep star Matthew Scott was out with a foot injury.

On 11 May 2012 it was announced that the oldest Sims brother had re-signed with the club for a further two seasons, which saw him at the club until the end of the 2014 NRL season.[14][15]

Warrington

Sims signed for Warrington ready for the 'New Era' of Super League in 2015, with a reformatted competition.

Representative career

Ashton represented Fiji in the 2013 Rugby League World Cup. He appeared in all 5 of Fiji's matches.

In May 2014, Ashton captained Fiji in the 2014 Pacific Rugby League International. Unfortunately, his influence wasn't enough as Fiji failed to win the test match and in doing so, failed to qualify for the 2014 Four Nations.

Personal life

Sims is the older brother of Brisbane Broncos player Korbin Sims and St. George Illawarra Dragons player Tariq Sims. His elder sister Ruan Sims played for the Australian women's team in 2010.[16]

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ashton Sims". Warrington Wolves. 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  2. ↑ "Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". Sporting Pulse. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  3. ↑ Heming, Wayne. "Best mates continue NRL rivalry". www.nrl.com. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  4. ↑ Walter, Brad (26 August 2004). "Newton struck out for 12 weeks". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  5. ↑ Williams, Steven (25 August 2004). "Clint Newton suspended for 12 matches". League Unlimited. Archived from the original on 5 April 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  6. ↑ Balym, Todd (23 June 2007). "Sims a Bronco, Petero unclear". The Daily Telegraph (Australia). Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  7. 1 2 Heming, Wayne (8 October 2008). "Ashton Sims excited about Fiji selection". The Daily Telegraph (Australia). Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  8. ↑ "Samoa, Tonga and Fiji name squads". BBC. 2008-10-08. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 2008-10-10.
  9. ↑ "Ashton Sims - Matches played for Fiji". RLP. Retrieved 2009-06-28.
  10. ↑ Ricketts, Steve (21 April 2009). "Forward Ashton Sims could quit Brisbane Broncos". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  11. ↑ Heming, Wayne (15 September 2009). "Sims earns Broncos return". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  12. ↑ Koch, Dan; McDonald, Margie (3 August 2010). "Titans escort Greg Inglis on full tour of Gold Coast before making $1m offer this week". The Australian. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  13. ↑ "Cowboys hurt by criticism: Thurston". ABC News (Australia). 28 January 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  14. ↑ "2011 Season Statistics". The Daily Telegraph (Australia). Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  15. ↑ "Ashton Sims: NRL 2011 match list". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  16. ↑ Brad Walter (The Sydney Morning Herald) (17 May 2013). "Sims sister Ruan leading way as female participation swells". Retrieved 16 July 2014.
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