The 30-year-old Gerringong product suffered two horrific career-threatening broken legs when his 183-game career was in its infancy. The battle back has been a great story, but it's the lack of finals appearances on his extensive resume driving him ahead of his 11th NRL season.

A barnstorming three-try effort in a qualifying final win over Brisbane in 2018 sits alongside the semi-final loss to Souths a week later and two week-one finals appearances with the Cowboys in 2013 and 2014.

He's desperate to add some more before he's done and knows he'll have to take the lead in a squad that's lost a large chunk of experience on the back of a forgettable 2020 campaign.

"We've got a major job on our hands here and I really want to make sure that we're coming out of the blocks firing this year because I'm getting a bit long in the tooth in footy years," Sims said.

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"I'd love to be playing finals football and obviously going to the big dance. Time's ticking and that time is now. At some point we need to make a stand as a leadership group. Being older players, we need to make sure we're setting good examples and preseason's a great opportunity to lay those strong foundations to set up a big season.

"We all know what Hook (Anthony Griffin) is like, he doesn't mince words, he's a straight shooter and he'll let you know if you're not hitting the marks.

"That's probably what's stood out the most this year that everyone's been put on notice and no one's above the team. It started from day one and it's carried all the way through."

The Origin back-rower is the first to admit he needed some rejuvenation after a frustrating 2020 in which he wrestled with injury and suspensions that kept him to just nine games for the season.

It saw him surrender his NSW jersey, while Dragons teammate Paul Vaughan suffered the same fate after a season that saw the club's senior players wear the brunt of criticism. Sims said returning to that arena is a major motivator.

"I respect Brad and everyone involved in the Blues and I was under no illusions, after the season I had last year that I wasn't going to be picked," Sims said.

"To Brad's credit he picked a team that was in form and that's what you pride yourself on as a player, making sure you're playing your best footy to get picked in those sorts of games.

"As far as stoking the fire inside me, it's definitely lit the fuse and makes me even more determined to, first of all, start playing good footy for the Dragons. The rep stuff will take care of itself."

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On that score he's feeling back to the peak fitness he enjoyed prior to a standout 2018 campaign that propelled him back into realm of the league's premier back-rowers.

"With our training this year, it's really rejuvenated me," he said.

"Gilly (Tony Guilfoyle) our trainer's, built a strong foundation for me to get my cardio to where it's probably never been before in my career. He's as straight a shooter as you'll get.

"There's only three staff that survived the clean-out so it's been refreshing. There's definitely a new approach to how we're training and how we attack things.

"There's different attacking plan, different defensive structures, but I think the beauty of our squad is that we've got a sprinkle of young and old and everyone's really excited to adapt and change and buy into what we need."

As to whether he'll need to curb his customary aggression to avoid further enforced stints on the sideline, Sims says he'll still set a physical tone but will be looking to make some subtle tweaks.

"As the game evolves and adapts I've got to do the same thing, whether I pull back the reins on certain tackles and go full tilt into some," Sims said.

"I still see myself as setting that bar as high as I possibly can. I want to be that person for our team, we've certainly got players that have come in to our squad that can help me on that journey. That's the beauty of the squad."

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