North Queensland isn't one of the half-a-dozen clubs Siosaia Vave has spent time at, but that's not from a lack of trying from the Cowboys.

Vave will run out for Parramatta in Saturday night's semi-final, but he could well have been in the opposition line-up had they got their man. The Mount Druitt product was one of the best young forwards coming through the SG Ball competition and the Cowboys did their best to lure him to Townsville. The promising prop was given the grand tour of the facilities and provided with a pathway to first grade, but opted to finish his footballing apprenticeship on the Gold Coast to be closer to his family.

Close call: Parramatta forward Siosaia Vave, left, almost became a Cowboy. Credit:AAP

"I would have loved going there, I would have shredded some more kilos in the heat," Vave said.

"Everything happens for a reason. I was coming out of SG Ball, looking to sign somewhere else. I ended up going to the Cowboys, meeting up with the recruitment manager. We talked, he showed me around, we came back down and I ended up signing with the Gold Coast Titans at the time.