Signings watch: The club Drinkwater could turn into a 'premiership threat'

With the Cowboys having now permitted Scott Drinkwater to speak with rival clubs, Chad Townsend and Denan Kemp have given their thoughts on where the 28-year-old could land.

Earlier in the week, North Queensland decided to re-sign Jaxon Purdue through to 2030, with the 20-year-old being viewed internally as their future fullback.

Following that decision, the club has allowed Drinkwater, who is only contracted through to 2027, to speak with other clubs now, with St. George Illawarra reportedly the favourite to sign him.

However, Townsend believes Drinkwater is a better fit in a finals-contending side like Cronulla.

“I think he could fit in the Sharks, to be honest,” Townsend said on SEN’s Saturday League Kick-Off.

“Obviously, there's rumours circling around the Dragons (and) that they're going after him pretty hard.

“Regardless (of) whoever gets him, you're going to get a guy who's just played his 150th game.

“He's a mature footballer now, playing probably some of the best football of his career.

“I think he'd be a great fit at the Sharkies.”

While Kemp thinks that Drinkwater could help Cameron Ciraldo and the Bulldogs become a premiership contender.

“It depends (on) what happens with the Dogs and how much salary cap they've got,” Kemp added.

“If you went outside of Reece Walsh, what fullback can essentially guarantee me six to 12 points a game? It's Scott Drinkwater.

“He's one of the few fullbacks who has that consistently over a four- or five-year period.

“You look at the Dally Ms over the last five years; he's always in the top 10.

“So, if you're the Dogs, you're sitting there going, ‘OK, what's our Achilles heel?’

“Our defence is good; we can keep teams usually below that 14 (point) mark.

“If we add 12 points onto that (in attack), all of a sudden, we're a premiership threat.”

But given the space the Dragons have in their salary cap, they’ll be able to offer him more money to move.

“The Dragons are just going (to) have so much money,” he noted.

“And at this point in his career, he's kind of like weighing up.

“The thing with the Dogs is it's not a guaranteed premiership. If he's going to Penrith, it's a different story.

“I think, in regards to the money and the length that the Dragons could probably offer, cause they're probably going (to) give him a four- or five-year deal (at) about a million dollars a year.

“Whereas I don't know other clubs have got that in the cap.”

The Cowboys will look to extend their winning streak to five games when they play the Sea Eagles next Thursday at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

SEN League will have live coverage of the match on our radio network and on the SEN app from 7pm AEST, with the match beginning from 7:50pm.