There were some other worthy contenders. In this columnist’s opinion, Tyson Frizell remains the best back-rower in the game – Josh Jackson’s absurd Dally M award not withstanding – and Jack de Belin made a strong case.

Without suffering an untimely injury, Paul Vaughan would’ve been thereabouts as well but, if you cast your mind back to certain matches, the judging panel got it right. Sims played all 25 games, but some in particular stand out.

In round three a running battle with Titans centre Konrad Hurell hinted at the fact he was back to his aggressive best but it was his performance in the Dragons Anzac Day win over eventual premiers the Roosters that really announced his return as one of the game’s premier back-rowers.

He well and truly set the tone for his side and made Cooper Cronk’s life a misery that day. Trent Robinson admitted following Sunday’s grand final win that that result prompted a major overhaul of his side’s attack. 

Another, perhaps largely unnoticed, performance of note came against North Queensland in Townsville in round 19.

It came in the middle of a tough Origin period for his side and if there was ever a chance a team could be down on energy or enthusiasm it was that night.

With Frizell rested, Sims switched to the right edge and wreaked havoc in a 24-10 win. Again he was the tone-setter. 

Then of course there was his hat-trick against Brisbane in week one of the finals. The Dragons looked in all-sorts heading in and Sims turned on one of the best performances you’ll see from a forward.

The 48-18 win was the Dragons first finals win in Brisbane since 2006 and their first post-season win since 2010.

It’s clear, looking back at 2018, that whenever Sims was on, the Dragons were on. His injury early in the second half of a one-point loss to the Rabbitohs played no small role in turning that match.

All of the above considered, it came as no surprise when his name was read out on Wednesday. However, if you’d told someone that would be the case in February, probably less than half would have agreed.

It made Kickoff go back and look at the first time we spoke with Sims in early February. Not long before, he’d marched into McGregor’s office and demanded first crack at the left edge spot vacated by Joel Thompson.

It certainly wasn’t fait accompli. A slimmed down Luciano Leilua was making a fair case and Sims had spent the previous two seasons as a middle forward.

Players don’t typically shift outward as they get older, particularly those who’ve suffered a career-threatening broken leg not once, but twice.

Those facts inevitably brought doubt he could successfully make the move, but the Gerringong product was emphatic that day. 

“I want that left-edge, 100 per cent,” he said

“Wherever Mary needs me, I’m willing to go, that’s how much I respect him and love playing for him, but deep down I want that left back-row spot and I’ll do anything to make it mine.”

He gave a similar response when asked if he feared his representative ship had sailed.

“I don’t, I honestly don’t,” he said.

“You look at a guy like Corey Parker, he got better with age. Obviously he was exceptionally durable but I believe, if you’re playing good enough football, you deserve to be there. It’s still a huge burning desire for me.” 

There wasn’t a hint of doubt for a guy who had reason to harbour many given that leg that’s still riddled with metal. Instead it’s what kept that fire burning. 

“Sometimes you get dealt some crappy cards. That’s life,” he said.

“How you come back and how you respond to those tough times shows what type of person you really are.

“It’s one of the things that keeps me going during preseason, that you could be stuck in a rehab room staring at four walls doing it by yourself.

“You could also be working and digging holes for 10 hours a day. All those things encourage you to go a bit harder, it’s what keeps me motivated.”

Sims’ return as an A-class forward was the biggest positive to come out of 2018 for the club, but there are certainly some hard questions to be asked. 

The obvious one is how to avoid the mid-season slumps that have been a perennial concern. They’ve occurred to consistently to be coincidental.

Certainly injuries struck at the worst time. Gareth Widdop and Paul Vaughan are anything but fringe players. You’d have liked their chances of knocking off the Rabbitohs in week two if they’d been there.

It did, however, show the value of finishing top four and, however you look at it, the Dragons let that slip badly. To be there for 22 of 25 rounds and not finish there was a killer.

As McGregor said often towards the end of the campaign, all sides deal with a lull at some stage of the year.

South Sydney won four of their first eight and lost four of their last seven. The Roosters lost four of their first eight, Melbourne three of their first five, Cronulla four of their first six. 

However none fell in as deep a hole as the Dragons, who won three of nine to finish the season one adrift of that four. If they could have avoided just one of those losses, they could have finished there.

Therein lies the challenge for McGregor and the club. Those lulls simply can’t last as long as they have.

Whether that’s a physical or mental challenge is a question they’ll have to answer in 2019, but something will have to change.