It all started with a simple phone call.

Barely a month later and Scott Drinkwater's transition from Storm boy to Cowboy becomes official on Friday night against the Dragons in Wollongong.

The 22-year-old only arrived in Townsville from Melbourne on Sunday and was rushed straight into coach Paul Green's starting side.

Drinkwater has been selected at his preferred fullback position, pushing Michael Morgan back to the halves and John Asiata to the bench.

While he didn't leave the Storm on bad terms, he is excited about making a fresh start and earning increased opportunities to nail down a regular spot.

"I loved my time down in Melbourne but it’s good to come up here and get an opportunity to play some NRL and I can’t wait," Drinkwater said.

"I saw Greeny as a good coach and a good club to come up here and get some NRL experience, play behind a good forward pack.

"I can't wait. I've only played a handful of games so far this year so I’m really eager just to play footy anywhere."

The Storm lost club legend Billy Slater to retirement in the off-season and had a big fullback vacancy to fill.

Dragons v Cowboys - Round 15

Drinkwater started the season as Melbourne coach Craig Bellamy's first-choice No.1 before injury opened the door for both Jahrome Hughes and Ryan Papenhuyzen to move ahead in the pecking order.

Drinkwater was wondering if and how he could get back into the 17-man side when a phone call out of the blue changed everything.

"It was about four weeks ago, my manager rang me and said the Cowboys were interested in getting you here now," he explained.

"I was playing Q Cup at the time so I probably wasn't going to be playing NRL anytime soon. Jahrome and Ryan were killing it. I was pretty interested from the start, but it's good to finally get it done and get up here."

Drinkwater believes he can enhance the Cowboys' attack with his take-what-the-defence-gives-you approach.

"Maybe a bit of that X-Factor style of play. Play a bit off the cuff and bit of unstructured footy," he said.

"More importantly just doing my job as a fullback and get the defensive line set, getting to the ball on the full, bringing the ball back hard."

Asked what he learned from the mercurial Slater, Drinkwater said: "Too much, so much. He’s a wonderful player and a good coach as well. He was magnificent down there. He was in the club once or twice a week [this year]. Anything he saw, he'd come up and tell you. He was unbelievable and I've learnt so much off him."

Drinkwater is likely to be targeted by the Dragons but doesn't talk like a man lacking self-belief.

"It's good to get up here and really see how I go in the NRL, see if I'm cut out for it," he said.

"[I'm] pretty confident. I don't hide away from being not confident. I guess you've got to be confident to be able to perform."