He may be on the fringes of the Bulldogs NRL team but off-contract winger Corey Thompson is hoping to extend his stay at the club beyond this season.
Making a successful return to first grade last Friday night as an injury replacement for Curtis Rona, Thompson scored two tries against competition favourites the Sydney Roosters in the club's 10-point loss.
Admitting there are clubs interested in his services both in Australia and overseas, Thompson – who's been named on an extended bench for his team's clash with Brisbane on Friday – said his preference was to stay and show Bulldogs coach Des Hasler he is too good to be playing outside of the NRL.
"I love it at the Bulldogs so hopefully everything can work itself out. [At the] end of the day, I just want to play good footy wherever I am," Thompson told NRL.com.
"I want to show everyone that I deserve to be in first grade, but if not and I'm playing NSW Cup, I want to play just as good to show that I shouldn't be there. I played in almost every game last year but this season I've had to grab my opportunities when I can to try to prove I can stay there.
"The quality of players here is endless though, we have a top team. It's a good and a bad thing for some of the boys but in saying that I've made a home in Sydney. It is good competition to have at the club."
Standing at 178 centimetres tall, Thompson said he can see how advantageous the NRL's new interchange rules will be in improving his chances of regular first grade game time, either at Canterbury or perhaps another club if he is to depart.
With NRL Head of Football Todd Greenberg announcing in July that interchanges will be cut from 10 to eight in 2016, Thompson said his love for playing the bigger individuals in the game will probably grow now the scale will be slightly tipped back in his favour.
"[The new rules] will be real good. It'll be nice to see the little nippy boys around the big boys. But you still have to be careful because the little boys still get tired and you still have to tackle the big front-rowers so it'll work both ways," Thompson said.
"I love playing against the bigger boys and I love to show and hopefully motivate all the kids out there that if they don't get picked because they're too small or not the fastest – that there's still hope. You just have to knuckle down and play to your strengths really."