Come 7:10pm AEST tonight, Tariq Sims will walk into NRL HQ and learn whether he can play in Origin III.
Instead of challenging the charge, Sims could have sought a downgrade and been free to play on Wednesday week with a 25 per cent discount for an early plea.
Yet Sims is confident he’s on the correct side of the law.
“I feel I haven’t anything wrong so that’s how I’m going to be going into it,” he said during the Blues’ Tuesday morning press conference.
He’s currently facing three weeks on the sidelines if he is found guilty for a grade 2, dangerous contact charge.
Working against him is Michael Morgan failing a HIA test and being unable to return to the field. Injury is taken into account when determining grading.
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It's poor timing for Sims, less than a week after the NRL ordered their officials to use the sin bin for both late hits and crusher tackles.
For now, Sims will keep busy being back in NSW camp.
“If I said it wasn’t a distraction over the last couples of days I’d be lying,” Sims said.
“I’d rather not be dealing with it but those are the cards I’ve been dealt; there’s no point dwelling on it and getting too hung up over it. A charge has come out of the game and like I said before I’m definitely going in there to fight it.”
One positive to come out of the charge for Sims is the backing of NSW coach Brad Fittler.
"I know they're trying to make a stance in the game and everyone understands the stance. I'm just not sure if this is the tackle where they need to do it," Brad Fittler said at the Origin II announcement on Monday night.
"We wish him all the best. Hopefully Michael Morgan's pulled up okay.
"But, considering on the field they had time to scrutinise it, (the) video referees and referees found it okay to not even give it a penalty."
“That means a lot for me personally but as a player, seeing the faith that a coach has in you definitely instils a bit of confidence,” Sims said.
Should Sims beat the charge, it could be the Maroons who are made to pay the price.
“[Being backed by Fittler] Is one of those things that makes you want to play even harder for your teammates - and Freddy - to pay him back for what he said.”
“Playing on home soil, being part of this game and history, just the thought of seeing the crowd there [at ANZ Stadium] and playing alongside some of the best players In the world, it doesn’t get much better than that.
“As a kid these are the sort of games that you dream about, that you aspire to play in and contributing to – hopefully – a series-winning win.”
Should Sims fail to beat the charge, David Klemmer is widely tipped to come back into the squad.
