Priddis said he was disappointed the Panthers were not interested in retaining him, but declared he was looking forward to linking up with Broncos coach Wayne Bennett at the Dragons next year.

And star wing/centre Boyd, who made his State of Origin debut for Queensland this season, is expected to follow Bennett south in 2009 under a lucrative three-year deal with St George Illawarra.

Boyd looms as an ideal replacement for outgoing captain Mark Gasnier, who last week signed with glamour French rugby club Stade Francais following a contractual wrangle over third-party sponsorships.

Priddis was lured by Bennett from Canberra to play with the Broncos back in 1999, where he won the 2000 premiership under the master coach.

"Linking up with Wayne again will be great for sure," Priddis told the Illawarra Mercury last night.

"I know what I'm getting with Wayne.

"Obviously from a coaching perspective he's changed different aspects, but he's a genuine bloke and he's bringing a couple of other players across as part of his plans, so it will be a bit of a fresh start for me, Wayne and the club next season."

Bennett is known to be an unabashed fan of Priddis and the 31-year-old has an impressive resume, including Australian and NSW representative honours and winning the 2003 Clive Churchill Medal after leading the Panthers to a grand final victory over the Sydney Roosters.

Priddis suffered a knee injury against the Roosters last month, which was expected to keep him out for up to six weeks and even sparked fears of it forcing him into early retirement.

However, Priddis made a strong recovery from the injury and returned a fortnight ago against Parramatta.

"I worked pretty hard on it and came back sooner than expected," he said.

"It's fine now, I wouldn't have been playing otherwise."