ST GEORGE Illawarra remain fuming over the judiciary charge that threatens to rub back-rower Tariq Sims out of next Wednesday's Origin decider and the Dragons crunch clash with Canberra in Wollongong four days later.
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Sims, from Gerringong, was slapped with a grade two dangerous contact charge following a hit on North Queensland five-eighth Michael Morgan in the Dragons win over the Cowboys at WIN Stadium on Friday night.
The shot was deemed not to warrant a penalty by on-field officials but the match review panel deemed it serious enough to slug Sims with a charge carrying two weeks with an early guilty plea. He risks missing three games should he fight the charge and lose.
Sims is expected to be named in what will likely be an extended Blues squad for Origin III on Monday after playing from the bench in the Blues' big win over Queensland in game two, though David Klemmer is certain to return to the squad after missing the Perth clash with a fractured wrist.
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Missing out on a chance at claiming an Origin series victory would be heartbreaking for Sims - who's ridden a well-publicised roller coaster to his long-awaited NSW debut last season - but a suspension is also something the Dragons can ill-afford.
Coach Paul McGregor has battled an injury crisis that's seen other key forwards Tyson Frizell, Korbin Sims and James Graham miss a combined 14 games this season.
Jack de Belin has also not taken the field as his well-publicised court battles stemming from a sexual assault charge continue to play out.
The injury woes have also included five-eighth Corey Norman, who missed four games with a fractured cheekbone after being levelled by Parramatta winger Maika Sivo after passing the ball in the Dragons loss to the Eels in round eight.
Sivo was not penalised on the field or cited by the match review panel for the hit that saw Norman leave the park and for an HIA and not return after medical staff confirmed he had suffered a facial fracture that later required surgery.
That inconsistency has added to the Dragons and the club's fans frustrations given Sims' predicament.
That Cowboys coach, and NRL competition committee member, Paul Green's post-game comments around the tackle influenced the MRP will likely be denied, but won't wash in the St George Illawarra camp.
McGregor gave a fair indication of that post-match on Friday, saying in no uncertain terms that Green needs to "zip his mouth" referring to Green's own criticism of Blues coach Brad Fittler's comments about Cowboys lock Josh McGuire's grubby late shot on James Maloney in the dying moments of Origin II.
That hit resulted in a grade one charge that saw McGuire miss Friday's clash with the Dragons but frees him up to play for the Maroon's in Wednesday week's decider.
Sims' possible absence would further test the Dragons depth and come just after McGregor found an apparent solution to his side's second-half woes this season with fresh interchange approach against the Cowboys.
Luciano Leila was given his first start of the season in the front-row, while Paul Vaughan and Tyson Frizell were given a lengthy spell on the bench before returning fresh for a stronger finish to the match.
McGregor said the approach was aimed at both managing Origin workloads and addressing the second half wobbles that plagued a 1-5 run through the middle part of the season.
"We've sort of been manipulating our starters with the guys we've got missing to try and get the right balance of experience and youth out there at the same time to try and eliminate those late-game, last 50-minute fade outs," McGregor said.
"There was a purpose there in starting Luch in the middle with two experienced players and then bringing on Korbin [Sims] and [Blake] Lawrie and young Robbo [Reece Robson]. I thought they were doing a fair job a couple of those boys. I thought the interchange, when they came back on, started the second half better.
It was a bit about managing the Origin players to get the best out of them on the night and, when we started to win that possession battle, the longer I could leave those guys off I thought the more powerfully we'd finish the game. That's how it panned out.
"It's different to how we've been playing. If you stop the game after 30 minutes we're in the top four, for the next 50 we're in the bottom two so to be down by 10 and get to a winning margin is very pleasing."