St George Illawarra forward Tariq Sims has revealed how bad life got after breaking his leg for the first time.

Sims has had a horrendous run with injury but says his weight ballooned out of control after the first break whilst playing at North Queensland Cowboys.

“I got up to 135kg. I didn’t leave the house for 6 weeks,” Sims told The Locker Room podcast.

“I had a lot of issues the first time I broke my leg.”

Sims left Newcastle Knights midway through 2016 to join the Dragons.

The Gerringong junior is in a tussle with Tyson Frizzell, Joel Thompson, Jack de Belin, Jacob Host and Will Matthews for a starting back row spot in 2017.