St George Illawarra’s Irish recruit Tyrone McCarthy says the thirst to make the NRL was too much to refuse despite being an integral part of Super League’s Hull KR in 2015.

McCarthy made a name for himself at the 2013 World Cup where he single handedly took on the might of the Australian Kangaroos.

‘It would have been easy to stay there and had a really settled career at Hull KR,’’ McCarthy said.

‘‘Terry Campese got injured last year and I took on the captaincy so I could’ve settled there but when the opportunity came up I talked to a lot of my older mates.

“Gareth Carvell [retired English prop] in particular always said his biggest regret was not coming out here.

‘‘I think it is something that if you did look back on it, whichever way it goes, you don’t want to live with those kind of regrets.

‘‘You’ve got to go in and try to give it your best shot.

‘‘Coming over to Australia and playing in the NRL has always been a goal of mine and the Dragons have given me the opportunity to fulfill that so I’m pretty excited to be here.’’

Meanwhile Foxsports.com.au has reported that Benji Marshall has no intention of retiring at the end of contract with the Dragons which expires at the completion of the 2016 season.

According to the article, Marshall intends to play to at least 2018.

“We’ve talked about another two years after 2016,” Marshall’s manager Martin Tauber told foxsports.com.au.

“He might change his mind and want to do one year or go to England or Japan.

“In fairness we’d certainly go to the Dragons first and give them the opportunity to take him on if they wished.

“We’ll consider all of those opportunities during that time frame.”