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St George Illawarra coach Anthony Griffin insists Tariq Sims’ omission for today’s NRL season opener comes down to fitness, with the club wanting to give the NSW State of Origin forward more time to recover from injury.

The off-contract Sims was left out of the Dragons squad to face the Warriors at Sunshine Coast Stadium, and his absence from the team sheet gave rise to questions about his future in the side especially after Griffin revealed in September the 32-year-old was free to talk to rival clubs.

However, Griffin denied there was anything sinister to Sims being out of the team when asked why the forward was overlooked.

“It wasn’t hard to overlook him,” Griffin said.

“He did his first full week of training this week after three calf tears.

“We just need to manage him and make sure when he does get on the field with us that it’s for the right reasons and not because we’re trying to rush him at the moment to win a game.

“The last thing we want is for him to snap his calf and be out for six weeks.”

Griffin has stuck with the same starting 13 from the Charity Shield win over South Sydney last month.

With Sims and George Burgess unavailable, five players will make their club debuts for the Saints, with Aaron Woods, Jaydn Su’A, Moses Suli, Mose Mbye and Francis Molo all playing for the Red V for the first time.