Aaron Woods’ future has been up in the air for the majority of 2021 after the 30-year-old was informed by his club the Cronulla Sutherland Sharks earlier this season that his services would no longer be required beyond this season.

The former Australian International had arguably his best campaign in Sharks colours this year, scoring three tries, making 12 tackle breaks, 1133 post-contact metres, averaging 111 running metres per game and making 631 tackles for an efficiency rate of 94.2%.

Woods has seemingly found his new home for 2021, as Brent Read from The Australian is reporting that the forward is going put pen to paper with Cronulla’s arch-rivals the St George Illawarra Dragons on a one-year-deal via NRL Tonight.

“A bit of breaking news on Aaron Woods, I expect him to join the Dragons in the next 48 hours so Woodsy’s career will go on in the NRL, which is good news for Aaron,” said Read.

The Dragons are set to throw veteran prop Aaron Woods an NRL lifeline 👀

👉 https://t.co/RNRrfPWfPj pic.twitter.com/IfV8wD4lzg

— Fox League (@FOXNRL) October 4, 2021

“That will develop as a said in the next 24-48 hours I imagine.”

Phil “Buzz” Rothfield from the Daily Telegraph then reported that Woods had indeed put pen to paper on said contract for next year.

Woods will provide a much-needed injection of experience into the Dragons’ forward pack that has recently lost Paul Vaughan to the Bulldogs and will likely lose Tariq Sims in 2022 also.

St George Illawarra has been very active in the market for next year, securing multiple players on good deals.

Moses Mbye will join the Red V from the Wests Tigers in a deal that will likely see the Tigers pay a sizable amount of his contract next season, with Mbye possibly replacing the outgoing Corey Norman in the halves.

The Dragons are also expected to confirm the signing of Moses Suli on a three-year deal any day now, with reports he has signed stemming back months.

Woods will not be the only newcomer to St George Illawarra’s forward pack, with Jaydn Su’a who is fresh off of a Grand Final defeat with the Rabbitohs coming into the fold next season, along with Francis Molo from the Cowboys and George Burgess from the Wigan Warriors.