Queensland Maroons and Australian Kangaroos legend Greg Inglis has revealed he almost quit the NRL at the end of 2010.
The star, who would go on to play NRL until the end of 2019, joined the South Sydney Rabbitohs after the salary cap scandal at the Melbourne Storm, but revealed on the Howie Games Podcast that he had multiple meetings with Victorian AFL side the Essendon Bombers.
It appears the amount of running was the only thing that turned him away.
"It's true," Inglis said on The Howie Games.
"I wanted to stay at Melbourne (Storm) in 2010. I had three meetings with Essendon and James Hird. Found out very quick how much running they do but those meetings were all set to go, but I had a change of mind, and obviously went to Souths.
"Absolutely (they were open to having me). Meetings with Hirdy, the high-performance team, going through all the basics stuff to sign a player.
"I would've gone alright. They would've played me full forward. Three meetings with them, it was almost a done deal."
Inglis made his name in the NRL in the centres, but also spent time at fullback and in the halves throughout his glittering career, with the premiership-winner one of the most gifted athletes to ever grace an NRL field.
He played 118 games for the Storm between 2005 and 2010, making his Queensland and Australian debut in just the second year of his career.
He made the move to the Rabbitohs in 2011, playing another 146 games for the club, still performing to a high level despite injuries hampering the back-end of his career.
The Kempsey-born product played 264 NRL games by the time it was all said and done, featuring in the Rabbitohs' historic drought-breaking premiership, as well as playing 32 Origins for Queensland and 39 Tests for Australia.
He made a brief return for the Warrington Wolves in the English Super League in 2021, but the stint only lasted three games.
