Tariq Sims regrets brain explosion Origin penalty

Tariq Sims has admitted he would do things differently if he had his time again but wouldn't allow his penalty on Ben Hunt, which Brad Fittler described as 'silly', to sour his State of Origin debut.

The St George Illawarra forward was penalised in the second half for taking out Dragons teammate Ben Hunt at marker, a moment in the game which turned the momentum with the Blues leading 12-8 at the time.

Sims was impressive on debut, but unfortunately his brain explosion overshadowed what was a strong performance.

"No shit," Sims said when asked if he wishes he had his time again.

"He blew a penalty and it's a penalty. I'm not going to dwell too much on it. These things happen in footy. Unfortunately I gave a penalty away and they were good enough to score."

Fittler questioned whether the Blues should have been awarded the penalty in the first place with Hunt lying on top of him before grabbing him while he played the ball.

"When I watched it, Ben Hunt pulled him, so he shouldn't have been touching him in the first place," Fittler said in the post-match press conference.

"Tariq was silly enough to go through with it. We'll cop that on the chin."

Sims didn't want to be dragged into a debate over who should have been the one penalised.

"We can argue about it until the cows come home," he said.

"The penalty went against us there. He's a really good tackler. Obviously he's not going to put on the biggest shots but he did what he was taught to do. He got underneath the ball and picked me up and flipped me on my back."

Sims made his debut in game three after narrowly missing out on selection in the opening two games of the series.

The experience has only added fuel to his motivation to wear the sky blue jersey in the future.

"You obviously want to play as many games as you can for the Blues but they're not going to get given to you," he said.

"I've got to go out there and earn it. I have to play a good style of football for the Dragons and put myself in contention for the Blues next year."