The fight that drives Tariq and Ashleigh Sims: Why NSW star’s boxer wife has wowed Blues

And it had nothing to do with Origin, the Dragons, team selections or where the best coffee spots around Coogee are.

No, all they wanted to talk about was Sims’ wife Ashleigh’s fight of the year boxing debut against Shanell Dargan in April.

Sims and Dargan’s slugfest was a show-stealer on the undercard to Harry Garside’s win over Manuer Matet at the Hordern Pavilion.

The pair went back and forth for four high-octane rounds before judges called it a draw.

Eight weeks on, it’s still the talk of Blues camp.

“It’s funny actually, I haven’t seen most of these boys since the last Origin, or when we play each other, but that fight’s always one of the first topics of conversation when we catch up,” Sims told CodeSports.

“It’s usually the first question the boys have, and I stump them straight away and say, ‘Yeah, I’m good too, thanks’.

“But, it was an incredible fight, and what those two women served up that night was nothing short of amazing.”

A veteran of 215 NRL matches and five Origins, it was a different vibe being on the other side of the fence.

He said he wasn’t nervous before the bout, but that changed pretty quickly once the bell rang.

“Mate, I’m telling ya, before the fight, I didn’t have any nerves at all. I’ve seen the way she trains and the way she carries herself. I had no nerves beforehand,” he said.

“But in the first round, when she got sort’ve rocked, I just stood up straight away and turned to the bloke behind me and said, ‘Sorry, mate, I’m not gonna be sitting down for the rest of the fight’.

“So, it was nerve-racking once the fight started.

“After that first round ended the nerves went away again, but for a minute of that first round it was pretty dicey.

“Once she started getting on top of the fight, once she started boxing and started fighting her kind of fight, I knew she was settling into her groove.”

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Sims’ inclusion in the New South Wales squad raised some eyebrows, with Blues selectors opting for the 32-year-old in favour of backrowers Angus Crichton and Jake Trbojevic.

Of the matchday squad New South Wales have named, Sims and Jack Wighton are the only two players currently in an NRL side not inside the top eight, with Blues coach Brad Fittler saying selection was based on form and incumbency.

“Form has been a big part of it,” Fittler said. “It’s always been very important, but it’s my job to identify that loyalty which has been very obvious over the past four years.”

New South Wales assistant coach Greg Alexander said Sims’ defensive work in last year’s series win was a huge factor in his selection, despite not being in the same form in 2022.

“(When) Tariq came into the side last year, he wasn’t shooting the lights out in terms of numbers, but what he did for that side in that left defence – he was the senior player on that side of the field – he tied them in beautifully,” Alexander told SEN on Monday.

“We couldn’t go past what he did last year.”

Sims hadn’t been in contact with Fittler or Blues selectors prior to the squad announcement but is confident of rising to the occasion.

“You have to be playing good football before you can be put in the frame, and once you come into Origin camp, it’s a whole different beast,” he said.

“There’s quite a few new faces in the squad, so it’s exciting.

“Ten days in camp when you’re living in each others’ pocket can really get the best out of the group. That’s the part that I love about it – the camaraderie you get out of the camps.”

Despite being in the discussion for the Blues for most of his career, Sims’ Origin journey suffered a series of setbacks and false starts.

He was first invited to Blues training in his debut season in the NRL in 2011, but was ruled out of contention for back-to-back seasons after suffering two horrific leg breaks while at the Cowboys.

He was a mainstay in the Country Origin side until the City-Country fixture’s demise in 2017 and was 19th man for the Blues in one game in 2015, before making his debut in the game three dead rubber in 2018.

Even then, it was touch and go.

In an otherwise solid Origin debut in 2018, he gave away a crucial second-half penalty which allowed Queensland back in the match to claim an 18-12 victory.

A year later, he was on the bench for game two as the Blues levelled the series, but was rubbed out of the decider after copping a suspension while playing for the Dragons.

Older and wiser, Sims says the series of setbacks only made him realise what a privilege it is playing for New South Wales.

“It probably just reinforced the drive to get in the team,” he said. “I spent a few Origins on the extended bench and it just made me hungrier and hungrier to get here.

“It made me realise what it actually takes to become a Blues player and a State of Origin player.

“Since those early camps, it’s just increased that drive to get in the team. It just drives the passion.

“It comes back to how much you want it, and how much you’re willing to sacrifice to get there.”

He doesn’t need to look far for that inspiration or support.

“I’ve got a lovely partner that supports me and my dreams,” he says of Ashleigh. “While I’m away, she holds down the fort and when I’m back I’ll do my time in the daddy duty role.

“That definitely makes it easier getting away – focusing on nothing but coming together as a group.

“She’s fought all her life too, and I’m just bloody proud as a husband and proud of her and what she’s doing to achieve her dreams in boxing.

“It’s been a long-time coming, but you saw how fit she was and how well she boxed, so hopefully she keeps going from strength to strength.”