Storm head coach Craig Bellamy was unwilling to silence rumours that have linked the southern state franchise with Dragons second-rower, Tariq Sims.
Following the triple-pronged injury blows sustained during Melbourne's come from behind win over Wests on Saturday night, the master coach was quizzed as to whether the NSW Origin representative could provide coverage for felled vice-captain, Christian Welch.
The Queenslander's 2022 season appears in tatters after he was aided off CommBank Stadium in the shadows of full-time after innocuously falling whilst defending his side's line.
Significant concern for Christian Welch - pushing off non-contact mechanism + flat foot walking (canโt point toes to the ground) brings concern for achilles rupture. Very best case significant calf tear but it doesnโt look good. Fingers crossed for him pic.twitter.com/sypv1XbTON
— NRL PHYSIO (@nrlphysio) March 12, 2022
With Welch falling as though he had been shot from behind, punters were quick to diagnose the 27-year-old with an Achillies tear - an ailment since confirmed by Melbourne in the wake of the Round 1 encounter.
Given the prop is set to remain sidelined for the entirety of the Storm's push towards October, the links between Bellamy, Sims and the purple powerhouse have only since been strengthened.
On Sunday morning, Phil Rothfield ofย The Daily Telegraphย stated that Sims, as well as his manager and wife Ashleigh, were recently seen meeting with Bellamy and Melbourne's GM of football, Frank Ponissi.
Although an official contract is yet to be tabled to the 32-year-old, Rothfield claimed that the Victorian-based powerbrokers were keen to agree to terms with the veteran ahead of Welch's felling.
Still, Christian Nicolussi of The Sydney Morning Herald held the view that a deal may take time to eventuate given the size of Sims' asking price, the scarcity of cap space at the Storm and the fact that a proposed one-year deal may well be a sticking point.
Speaking after the dust had settled on his 499th game at the Storm's helm, Bellamy played a straight bat to queries linking Sims with a shift from the Harbour City.
โWeโll have a bit of interest in a few players,โ Bellamy said.
โWeโve lost players โฆ Weโre not scraping the bottom of the barrel, but weโre getting towards that.
โWeโre probably going to have to pull two or three players into the squad if the two tonight are as serious as our medical team think they are โฆ weโre going to have to find some extra players from somewhere.โ
Despite being set to earn in the vicinity of $800,000 during his final season on contract at Kogarah, Sims was left out of head coach Anthony Griffin's plans ahead of their Round 1 victory over the Warriors on the Sunshine Coast.
Sims has already stated that he has been left "devastated" after failing to be offered a contract extension by St George Illawarra.
The Fijian international has pulled on the Red V on 104 occasions since joining the storied club from Newcastle mid-way through the 2016 season.
It is not yet known whether Griffin will call on the Gerringong native's services for the Dragons' Round 2 clash against Cronulla on Thursday, March 24.
