Ashton Sims

Ashton Sims (born 26 February 1985) is an Fijian former rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s and 2010s. He played at representative level for Fiji, and at club level for the St. George Illawarra Dragons, the Brisbane Broncos and the North Queensland Cowboys in the National Rugby League (NRL), the Warrington Wolves in the Super League and the Toronto Wolfpack in the Betfred Championship, as a forward[3]

Ashton Sims
Personal information
Born (1985-02-26) 26 February 1985[1]
Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia
Playing information
Height193 cm (6 ft 4 in)[1]
Weight111 kg (17 st 7 lb)[1]
PositionProp, Second-row
Club
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2003–07 St. George Illawarra 81 9 0 0 36
2008–10 Brisbane Broncos 56 2 0 0 8
2011–14 North Qld Cowboys 91 2 0 0 8
2015–17 Warrington Wolves 90 7 0 0 28
2018–19 Toronto Wolfpack 50 1 0 0 4
Total 368 21 0 0 84
Representative
Years Team Pld T G FG P
2008–17 Fiji 12 0 0 0 0
Source: [2][3][4]

Background

He was born in Sutherland, New South Wales, Australia.

Playing career

While attending Kiama High School in 2002, Sims was selected to play for the Australian Schoolboys team.[5] He played his junior football for the Gerringong Lions.[6]

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.[7][8] 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.[9] 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.[10]

Shortly after the Broncos' semi-final exit, Sims was named in the Fiji squad for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup[11] 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.[10] 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.[12]

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.[13] 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.[14] However, he only played nine NRL matches in the following season, and in August signed to play for the North Queensland Cowboys in 2011.[15]

North Queensland Cowboys
Sims in action for Warrington

Sims moved to North Queensland with his younger brother, Tariq, who had played in the Broncos' Under-20s team.[16] 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 teammates.

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.[17][18]

Warrington Wolves

Sims signed for Warrington Wolves ready for the 'New Era' of Super League in 2015, with a reformatted competition. Whilst at Warrington Wolves he received a League Leaders Winners medal and Runners up Medals for the 2016 Challenge Cup Final defeat by Hull F.C. at Wembley Stadium[19][20] and the 2016 Super League Grand Final defeat by the Wigan Warriors at Old Trafford.[21]

Toronto Wolfpack

Sims signed for Toronto Wolfpack following the 2017 Super League season. The Canadian side played in the Kingstone Press Championship in 2018 following their League 1 title in their inaugural season in 2017.

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. Fiji failed to win the test match and in doing so, failed to qualify for the 2014 Four Nations. In October 2017, Ashton represented Fiji once again in the World Cup, held in his home country Australia. There, Fiji beat New Zealand in the Quarter Finals but unfortunately suffered a loss in the semifinals to Australia and cousin - Reagan Campbell-Gillard.

Personal life

Sims is the older brother of St. George Illawarra Dragons players Korbin and Tariq Sims. His elder sister Ruan Sims played for the Australian women's team in 2010.[22] He is married to Nicole Sims and father of 4 children.

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References
  1. "Ashton Sims". Warrington Wolves. 2014. Archived from the original on 4 August 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2015.
  2. "Statistics at 203.166.101.37". 203.166.101.37. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  3. "Profile at loverugbyleague.com". loverugbyleague.com. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  4. "Statistics at rugbyleagueproject.org". rugbyleagueproject.org. 31 December 2017. Retrieved 1 January 2018.
  5. "Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League". Sporting Pulse. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
  6. Heming, Wayne. "Best mates continue NRL rivalry". www.nrl.com. Archived from the original on 27 August 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  7. Walter, Brad (26 August 2004). "Newton struck out for 12 weeks". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  8. 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.
  9. Balym, Todd (23 June 2007). "Sims a Bronco, Petero unclear". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  10. Heming, Wayne (8 October 2008). "Ashton Sims excited about Fiji selection". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  11. "Samoa, Tonga and Fiji name squads". BBC. 8 October 2008. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 10 October 2008.
  12. "Ashton Sims - Matches played for Fiji". RLP. Retrieved 28 June 2009.
  13. Ricketts, Steve (21 April 2009). "Forward Ashton Sims could quit Brisbane Broncos". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  14. Heming, Wayne (15 September 2009). "Sims earns Broncos return". The Courier-Mail. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  15. 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.
  16. "Cowboys hurt by criticism: Thurston". ABC News (Australia). 28 January 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  17. "2011 Season Statistics". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). Retrieved 31 October 2011.
  18. "Ashton Sims: NRL 2011 match list". www.rugbyleagueproject.org. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
  19. "Hull FC's Jamie Shaul's late try takes Challenge Cup away from Warrington". Guardian. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  20. "Challenge Cup final: Hull FC 12-10 Warrington Wolves". BBC. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  21. "Warrington 6-12 Wigan: Super League Grand Final – as it happened!". Guardian. 8 October 2016. Retrieved 7 November 2019.
  22. 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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