NEW boy Ashton Sims admits Warrington Wolves’ Super League opener with Salford Red Devils will pit him against one of his role models.

Sims was a teenager at St George-Illawarra Dragons when Adrian Morley arrived in the NRL with Sydney Roosters.

And Sims says the Wolves legend had a bigger impact on the Southern Hemisphere game than the likes of Sam Burgess or James Graham.

“I am,” said Sims when asked if he was looking forward to facing the man who captained Wolves to three Challenge Cup triumphs.

“I well know who Adrian Morley is. Once I was coming into first grade he was one of the players I looked up to.

“He was at Sydney Roosters and took the NRL by storm.

“I think more so than Sam Burgess, the Burgess brothers and James Graham, who’ve taken the NRL by storm too, but he was probably the first guy to do it.”

Sims confesses as a teenager he found Morley an imposing prospect.

Unsurprisingly, as the former Great Britain and England international would help Roosters to an NRL Grand Final crown and a World Club Challenge title before arriving at Warrington, via Bradford Bulls.

“Playing up against him as an 18-year-old, he was a scary sight,” said Sims.

“He just ripped and tore and he’s still certainly a role model of mine.”

But the powerful forward is confident Tony Smith’s side can get the better of 37-year-old Morley and his Salford team-mates when they visit The Halliwell Jones Stadium.

“I’ve played against a few of their guys back in Australia and a couple of guys who played for England in the World Cup, so it’s going to be a tough game,” explained the Fiji captain.

“We’re well ready for it. We’re working towards being completely ready for it to get our league campaign off to a good start.”

Sims, who arrived from North Queensland Cowboys at the end of the 2014 season, is hoping to breed the ‘warrior’ mentality he brings to Wolves among his new team-mates.

“We’ve got the squad where, if we compete hard every game, we’re going to be pretty successful,” added the 29-year-old.

“We aim at getting that warrior mentality through our whole team, which I think we’ve got at the moment – we just need to keep instilling that as it makes successful teams.”

A former Salford full back, and current player welfare manager at Wolves, Karl Fitzpatrick is someone who has kept a keen eye on the Red Devils’ pre-season recruitment drive.

And he expects them to be a force under the guidance of former Warrington half back Iestyn Harris.

“They’ve added some more quality players to an already impressive playing roster,” said Fitzpatrick, who made more than 100 appearances for Salford.

“They’ve had a full pre-season under Iestyn Harris so we’re expecting a big challenge from them on Saturday.”

But the 34-year-old is confident The Halliwell Jones faithful can help carry the home side through.

“We were over in Golden Square with all the first team players on Saturday,” he added.

“There was a real good vibe around the place.

“Hopefully we’ll get a crowd against Salford which will follow us through against Hull FC and for the St George game.”