Tariq Sims is hoping his pre-season advice to brother Korbin about joining the Brisbane Broncos doesn't come back to bite him with the St George Illawarra Dragons desperate to stay in finals contention in their clash on Friday night.
The pair of brothers will go head-to-head for the third time in their careers after playing together at Newcastle for 18 months before both departing the Hunter in a premature fashion.
It was Tariq who Korbin leaned on during the tough period in January after being granted a release by Knights coach Nathan Brown in the off-season.
"When we talked about it when it was first happening I told him that's where he needed to go," Tariq told NRL.com.
"Being in their system (at Brisbane) before it's like a production line up there and they've got a bigger and uglier bloke waiting if one of those boys go down or isn't playing well enough.
"I knew it was going to be a great decision for him personally and an opportunity for him to learn off the calibre of players Brisbane have got up there."
Eight months on and Korbin is relishing the move after being reunited with Broncos coach Wayne Bennett, but victory against the Red V on Friday night could spell an end to Tariq and the Dragons' finals hopes.
St George Illawarra have an awful recent record against the Broncos, winning just one of the last 12 games between the teams, while personally Tariq has only beaten Bennett's side once in seven attempts.
However, if the Dragons are to keep in touch with the top eight they'll need to win no less than two of their last three games – and even that will give them no guarantee of scraping into a playoff spot.
"They are firing at the right time of the year and put an impressive win on the Sharks who are no easy beats," Sims said of the Broncos.
"To see [Korbin] reaping the benefits now is great and hopefully he can play finals football because I don't think he ever as.
"As a family member I'm proud of what everyone is doing in the NRL but as a Dragon we're keen to continue turning things around and what better way to do it then against the Broncos at Suncorp Stadium.
"I believe we've played well enough this year to beat any side in the competition, just have to match it with them for an entire 80 minutes."
When asked if he'll put a shot on his younger sibling like the good old days, Tariq drew back to the fact they were mainly teammates in the backyard.
"It was always Ruan and Ashton on their knees verse Korbin, CJ and I so they were the rules and if you cried you'd go inside for time out," he said.
"Korbin was the main crier, the girls were the tough ones. I never had the ball in my hand most of the time, I was always trying to put a shot on.
"I'll give it a go [on Friday night] but he's a big boy nowadays, but in all honesty I just want to get the win for the Dragons."
Sims maintains Australian Jillaroo Ruan was the best of the bunch in the backyard.
"She's a great ambassador for the game and leads a group of women every week while juggling full-time work and media commitments in-between," Tariq said.
"I know she knows I'm proud of her and I'll back everyone up and say yes, she definitely does [hit harder than us]."
