Exclusive: Josh Drinkwater speaks openly about his future

Josh Drinkwater has become one of Catalans Dragons most important players in recent years.

James Maloney has rightly earned the headlines for the French club in the past two seasons, but it is Drinkwater that keeps the Catalans cog turning.

The 29-year-old halfback first came to Super League with the London Broncos in 2014 before a two-year spell at Leigh Centurions from 2016 to 2017.

However, it was his one-year visit to the south of France in 2018 that really put Drinkwater on the map.

Nine tries and 75 goals in 21 appearances thrust the Australian halfback into the limelight and he earned a deal from Hull KR ahead of the 2019 Super League season.

But, once he was contacted by the Dragons once more during that year, Drinkwater knew where his future lay.

“Once I was contacted by Catalans during the 2019 season, I knew that’s where I wanted to be,” Drinkwater told Serious About Rugby League.

“I’ve said many times I didn’t want to leave in the first place so once we spoke again I knew I was going back there and didn’t feel the need to speak to any other clubs.”

28 appearances later in the south of France and the 29-year-old says it would be “definitely somewhere” he would think about retiring.

“I haven’t even thought about it I’m just going into a new two-year deal so I’m there until the end of 2023.

“France for the moment is my home away from home.

“My partner will be moving over early in 2022 and it’s definitely somewhere I could see myself retiring in the future – there are worse places in the world to live than the south of France while playing and doing what you love for a job.

“You see a lot of overseas players, once they finish at the Dragons, retire and stick around so that may be something I’ll look into, but I still have a lot of rugby at Super League level left before I think about that.”