Having rejected big money offers to re-sign with the NRL premiers, young gun Kyle Stanley has claimed first dibs on the soon-to-be vacant St George Illawarra No.1 jumper.

Stanley on Thursday agreed to a new three-year deal which will keep him in the 'red v' until the end of the 2014 NRL season - by which time the impressive 20-year-old hopes to have made the fullback position his own.

The role is set to be up for grabs at the end of the year with Test star Darius Boyd set to follow Wayne Bennett in walking away from the Dragons.

And while international wingers Brett Morris and Jason Nightingale - along with Bronx Goodwin - have all been mentioned as possible successors to Boyd, Stanley remains the front-runner to snare the job.

While he is currently being used off the bench as a back-up dummy half, and played all his junior football in the halves, Stanley says a switch to fullback would not pose too many problems.

"If the opportunity comes I'd definitely take it with both hands, fullback these days is just like a second five-eighth," Stanley said.

"At least I'd get my hands on the ball and be ball-playing at the back and hopefully doing what Darbs (Boyd) did this year.

"It'll come pretty natural to me if I play there next year.

"We'll just see what the outcome is with what everyone is doing next year, hopefully we can get that sorted in the next pre-season."

While reluctant to name which clubs had shown an interest in recruiting him, Stanley admitted he turned down more money to remain with the joint-venture.

The Hurstville United junior said he felt part of the club, while the elevation of assistant coach Steve Price to replace Bennett in 2012 also made his decision to stay on easier.

"I've been under him for three or four years - I came into the 20s side when I was 16 and he was coaching there ... I've got a pretty good relationship with him," Stanley said of Price.

"He had a chat with me the day before I signed ... he's helped me out a lot.

"I had a few offers from other clubs - what kept me here was the culture we have here ... there's no money that can pay for that.

"... clubs are chucking money at me and obviously I took it into consideration, but I love the Dragons, I played all my junior here - that obviously had a big factor in it as well."

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