After leaving Cronulla to sign a cut-price NRL contract with the St George Illawarra Dragons, Aaron Woods knew he had to be smarter with his money.
Woods had been one of the game's best remunerated front-rowers across spells with the Wests Tigers, Canterbury and Cronulla.
But now aged 30, the prop got a bump down to earth when he was forced to link up with the Dragons and drive to Wollongong each day.
"It's the first time in my career I've had to go out and buy a car," he told AAP.
Mindful of getting ripped off at a dealership, the cunning front-rower hatched a plan.
"Let's just say I let my mum go and do all the talking and then I came in and drove the car away later on," he said.
"You can't be wasting money on cars because as soon as you drive it out of there they devalue."
Contracts have dominated the NRL's off-season with seven players having already secured their futures for 2023.
Woods isn't a fan of the system and believes teammates will question the commitment of those who have agreed to deals elsewhere.
"The rules let you to do it, but personally I don't like being allowed to sign for a club for the year after while you're in the middle of your pre-season," he said.
"If things go bad you're not sure if guys are going to tear in. If you lose a few games, will they still be switched on?"
Woods, a 233-game NRL veteran joins a Dragons side that has added the experience of Josh McGuire and Andrew McCullough over the last 12 months.
But below the seasoned squad assembled by coach Anthony Griffin there is a crop of young talent that has the former Test prop excited for 2022.
"The Feagai twins (Mat and Max), Jayden Sullivan are really talented and Junior Amone is only 18 but that kid has a lot of ability," he said.
"I don't want to put too much pressure on him, but he isn't scared to tell you what to do because he's not intimidated. He loves to speak up and is really vocal."
Things could well have been different for Woods, who was in talks with Michael Maguire about a return to the Tigers. But when things went quiet he jumped at the chance to work under Griffin.
"I had a yarn with Madge and they had a few front-rowers but I never heard back from the club," he said.
"It wasn't meant to be and not everything ends in fairytales.
"I couldn't sit there waiting and the Dragons were always keen and I was close to joining the club midway through last year.
"I had a few chats with Hook last year and I enjoyed what he had to say and I was drawn to his vision of the game."
Australian Associated Press
