St George Illawarra Dragons bound North Queensland Cowboys star Scott Drinkwater has revealed he had an offer on the table from the Brisbane Broncos before he made the move to Townsville.

Drinkwater, who had progressed through the Melbourne Storm system but was blocked from first-grade by a number of stars ahead of him at the club, decided to move to Townsville at the start of 2022 on a five-year deal.

The move has paid off for the Cowboys, and while the club haven't won a premiership, Drinkwater has made it clear he is one of the game's most dangerous fullbacks.

The Broncos, on the other hand, went ahead and signed Reece Walsh, who is still with the club today.

Walsh had progressed through Brisbane's junior systems before debuting with the New Zealand Warriors, but always seemed destined to wind up back in the south-east corner of Queensland at some point.

Now in the Origin mix year on year, and having played for the Kangaroos in last year's Ashes series, Walsh and Drinkwater will put their attacking talents on display this weekend against each other, but Drinkwater told News Corp ahead of the game that the Broncos actually made the right call bringing Walsh back to the club.

“Looking back, it's the best decision they ever made - not signing me and getting Reece Walsh back, wasn't it?” Drinkwater said.

“There was a little bit of interest there from the Broncos... my preference was to stay at the time and we got that deal done.

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“There were a few talks with the Broncos, but I bet they are happy they didn't (sign Drinkwater).”

CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 14: Reece Walsh of the Broncos is pictured during the NRL Qualifying Final match between Canberra Raiders and Brisbane Broncos at GIO Stadium, on September 14, 2025, in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)
CANBERRA, AUSTRALIA - SEPTEMBER 14: Reece Walsh of the Broncos is pictured during the NRL Qualifying Final match between Canberra Raiders and Brisbane Broncos at GIO Stadium, on September 14, 2025, in Canberra, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

Drinkwater has made 161 appearances for the Cowboys, racking up 63 tries, and has become one of the game's most consistent performers.

Regularly near the top of the Dally M Medal standings and Zero Tackle's NRL MVP, he has an enormous job to do in the coming weeks with the Cowboys to miss Tom Dearden on the run to the NRL finals after he suffered another injury.

The Cowboys most important attacking presence, Drinkwater will want to go out at the club on a high note before joining Dean Young's revolution at the Dragons next year.