The Warriors' player Kieran Foran decision on where to next in his rugby league career had been playing on his mind since his return to the field last month.
Foran confirmed on Tuesday he will leave the Warriors at the end of the season, and is close to finalising a three-year deal that will keep him at Canterbury until the end of 2020.
It brings to an end months of speculation on his future, which began when he signed only a one-year deal with the Warriors after walking out on Parramatta midway through last season.
And the 26-year-old admitted the issue had been one he had struggled to shirk.
Warriors playmaker Kieran Foran. Photo: PHOTOSPORT
"It's been on my mind for the last few weeks now," Foran told Radio Sport.
"I knew once I got back on the field that I was going to have to make a decision pretty soon after.
"Although I didn't want to have to make it this fast, it's just the nature of the game."
The decision-making process has hardly hampered his performances.
The Kiwi five-eighth has helped the Warriors to wins in three of his five games alongside halfback Shaun Johnson, and they look a completely new and direct side with him on the field.
His form also sparked interest in the former Manly five-eighth.
Both Newcastle and Melbourne were linked to the Warriors star, but Foran admits he only had eyes for one club and a desire to once again link up with his former coach Des Hasler.
"I was a free agent by the time a ball was kicked off," Foran said.
"Once I decided Sydney was where I would like to go back to to be closer to my children, I decided to pursue that Bulldogs deal."
Meanwhile the 2011 premiership-winner said the Warriors, through general manager Jim Doyle, had put no excessive pressure on him to stay in New Zealand.
However Foran also admitted he was very close to considering another year in Auckland, after the club helped put both his career and life back on track following the controversy of 2016.
"I was very close," he said.
"Over the last week or two I had some internal discussions there with teammates and coaches and discussed the thought and the possibility of extending for another 12 months.
"But in the end I said from the start I would make a decision based around my two young kids. And that drove my decision to go back to Sydney."
