DRAGONS coach Anthony Griffin will reshuffle his line-up to accomodate the return of in-form back-rower Tariq Sims, the call a no-brainer given the long turnaround into Monday's showdown with the Bulldogs.
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Like most men in sky blue, Gerringong product Sims had a blinder for NSW in the Blues' Origin one rout of Queensland in Townsville. Griffin named the veteran enforcer on extended bench on Tuesday pending safe passage through game one.
Jack Bird, who was named in the back row on Tuesday, is likely to shift to the centres at the expense Gerard Beale or Brayden Wiliame, though Griffin may opt to keep him in the pack.
"We've got a couple of options there we'll have a look at but Tariq will start," Griffin said on Sunday.
"He's pulled up really well. To his credit, he was straight on the phone to me on Thursday morning after the game and wanted to play. That's what you want to see out of your rep players and obviously the longer turnaround will help him."
The Dragons will be looking to notch consecutive wins for the first time since round four after running in 50 points against a depleted Broncos last Thursday.
Monday's clash with the last-placed Bulldogs is must-win given the club's fragile hold on the bottom rung of top eight. They face the Warriors and Raiders in the following fortnight ahead of a round-17 bye, with six of their last eight games coming against sides currently above them on the ladder.
It includes the Panthers and Roosters and two games against the third-placed Rabbitohs, making the next month of football crucial for Griffin's side.
"There's only 10 games to go after Monday so we're on the downhill run," Griffin said.
"It's an important day for us, obviously every one is through the year. We'd like to build some momentum but we need to do that through our performance. I've been happy with the undercurrent of what we've been building here.
"We've got to battle hard for our wins and we lost a couple we probably should have won. If we kick a field goal against Cronulla [in round 11] we're another brick in the wall there.
"The ony game I was really disappointed with was the Wests Tigers game [in round 12]. We just didn't stick to the standards we want to stick to at this club but, as far as the undercurrent of what we're doing, I'm pretty happy with it."
The likes of Zac Lomax, Josh McGuire and Tyrell Fuimaono getting put through their conditioning paces seperate from the captain's run on Sunday did not make for pleasant viewing and Griffin will welcome their looming returns in coming weeks.
"We were strong early in the year and probably the biggest thing is the injuries and the suspensions," Griffin said.
"It's hard when you haven't got the same team out every week but that's not an excuse. I thought we did enough to win a couple of those games through there but it has been a challenge. Hopefully we're over the back end of that.
"If we can pick up [the win] on Monday, and get another one or two players back next week, we can hopefully build some consistency within the team we put out every week and the performance we produce."
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