Senior Dragons back-rower Tariq Sims has labelled suggestions that a depleted St George Illawarra will capitulate in coming weeks "bulls–t", amid the disastrous fall-out of Paul Vaughan's barbecue.
After the NRL found Vaughan guilty of hosting 12 Dragons teammates at his house on Saturday night, Vaughan was sacked by the Dragons and every one of the other bio-security bubble lawbreakers copped one-match bans from the league.
Crucially, the Dragons have been made to split up the 12 suspensions across two to four rounds, to ensure a competitive team is able to take to the field during a season already marred by lopsided scorelines.
The seventh-placed Dragons are scheduled for a bye this week, before meeting Manly, Gold Coast, South Sydney and Canberra in their next four games.
"As far as just rolling over and copping it from other teams, I think that's bullsh–t," Sims told Nine News.
"This is a really good opportunity for us to show our grit."
Controversial Dragons Jack de Belin and Corey Norman were among those at the party, although Vaughan was hit with significantly greater punishments by the NRL and St George Illawarra.
The NRL slapped the former Kangaroos and NSW State of Origin front-rower with an eight-match ban and a $50,000 fine, which was followed by the Dragons' decision to tear up his $800,000-a-year contract.
Sims said Vaughan's action were "a gross mistake" and insisted he'd be standing by his mate.
"As a teammate of his and a friend of his I want to support him as best I can through these tough times," Sims said.
"Obviously going through COVID – it's no joke and the situations and the pressures we're under …
"I'm wearing this just as much as the boys who are involved. There's so many of us involved in the club that we can all look to each other for support."
For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by clicking here!
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.