{"id":158896,"date":"2025-09-21T13:42:06","date_gmt":"2025-09-21T13:42:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/158896\/"},"modified":"2025-09-21T13:42:06","modified_gmt":"2025-09-21T13:42:06","slug":"nrl-stalwart-hangs-up-boots-following-super-league-departure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/158896\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL stalwart hangs up boots following Super League departure"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tariq Sims has announced his retirement from professional rugby league following his exit from Super League outfit Catalans Dragons.<\/p>\n

NRL stalwart Sims has spent the last two seasons in the South of France with Catalans<\/a>, amassing 41 appearances across all competitions in the process and scoring five tries.<\/p>\n

With his 36th birthday coming up in February, the veteran forward saw his departure from the Stade Gilbert Brutus announced at the end of last month.<\/p>\n

He is one of 13 players that will leave the Dragons on the back of a disappointing campaign which saw them finish ninth on the Super League<\/a> ladder.<\/p>\n

Sims<\/a>\u2018 future had been unclear following that announcement, but he has now taken to social media to announce his decision to retire.<\/p>\n

NRL stalwart Tariq Sims hangs up boots following Catalans Dragons departure as passionate vow made<\/p>\n

Born in Gerringong, the 35-year-old donned a shirt for Fiji on the international front via his heritage and also represented New South Wales in State of Origin.<\/p>\n

Posting on Instagram, he wrote: \u201cAs I close this chapter of my career, I want to take a moment to thank the people who made it possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo my wife Ashleigh, thank you for your endless love, patience, and support through every high and low.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis crazy journey wouldn\u2019t have been possible without your strength behind me and encouragement to keep pushing when I didn\u2019t think I could find it in myself to keep going.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo my two girls Lakia and Vayla, you\u2019ve been my biggest motivation and my greatest joy. Thank you for always being there, for understanding the sacrifices that came with this career, and for lifting me up both physically and emotionally.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know it hasn\u2019t always been easy, but your love has been my foundation and drive to compete at a highest level for so long. Being a professional athlete is never a solo journey, and I am forever grateful to have shared mine with you three by my side.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy brothers and sisters, Ruan, Ashton, CJ and Korbin thank you for your support and inspiration. Each of you has shown me what hard work and passion look like, and together you\u2019ve been such an important part.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo my mum and dad for their unwavering support. Mum, for somehow getting all five of us kids to and from every sporting event and always giving us that tactical edge \ud83d\ude02<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd Dad, for the incredible amount of work and sacrifice you put in working your ass off so that we always had what we needed. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m beyond grateful to you both.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I know I\u2019ll continue to be involved in this great game in some capacity\u2026 it\u2019s in my blood\u2019<\/p>\n

Sims played more than 230 games in the NRL<\/a> before making the move into the British game with Catalans in 2024.<\/p>\n

Making his first-grade bow Down Under for the North Queensland Cowboys back in 2011, he also went on to represent Newcastle Knights, St George Illawarra Dragons and Melbourne Storm ahead of his switch to Perpignan.<\/p>\n

Hailing from a family steeped in rugby league history, he has vowed to remain in the game in some capacity.<\/p>\n

The forward\u2019s social media post concludes: \u201cMy team-mates, coaches, physios, sponsors, and everyone who keeps the great clubs I\u2019ve been a part of running. To the fans, thank you for your support and your interactions along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve made the journey even more special and I hope we had some sort of connection along the way.<\/p>\n

\u201cA special thank you to Paul McGregor, a coach who has inspired me, challenged me, and demanded the best from me. Thank you for everything you\u2019ve done and continue to do for me and my family.<\/p>\n

\u201cLastly, the NRL not only for giving me the opportunity to play, but also for allowing my family, who wholeheartedly love this game, to be a part of it for so long.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I\u2019ll continue to be involved in this great game in some capacity\u2026 it\u2019s in my blood.<\/p>\n

\u201c\ud83d\udda4T\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tariq Sims has announced his retirement from professional rugby league following his exit from Super League outfit Catalans…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":158897,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-158896","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nrl","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-national-rugby-league","11":"tag-nationalrugbyleague","12":"tag-nrl","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158896","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=158896"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/158896\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/158897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=158896"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=158896"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=158896"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}