Luke Keary, a winner of three NRL premierships, has disclosed that both the Melbourne Storm and St George Illawarra Dragons, along with the Waratahs from rugby union, showed interest in him early in his professional journey.
Keary transitioned from the South Sydney Rabbitohs to the Sydney Roosters at the end of 2016, claiming titles with both, but the path of his career could have been quite different.
The halfback, who primarily plays as a five-eighth, discussed on *Backstage with Cooper and Matty Johns* that the Storm might have been a feasible option if their financial offer had exceeded the minimum wage proposed by Craig Bellamy.
"I knew I had to get to a good club because I wasn't playing well, so it was Melbourne, the Dragons and the Waratahs," Keary remarked during the episode.
"With Craig, I remember saying to him I don't care about the money, I just want to come down there and play with Cooper, Billy and Cameron."
"He sent the offer through and I nearly fell off my chair. It was deadset minimum wage. I would have had to sell everything I had to get down there."
While the Dragons made a pitch for him, Keary indicated that he felt he couldn't fulfill the halfback role Paul McGregor envisioned for him.
"Mary was impressive. He took me down there, explained what they were building with Gareth Widdop. He was so impressive," Keary noted about the Dragons.
"The thing that swayed me away from the Dragons was that he told me I was going to be the number seven, the leader of this side, and I knew I couldn't do that."