Two years after showing Neville Costigan the door, Wayne Bennett has left open the possibility of a surprise reunion at St George Illawarra.

Costigan, 23, will leave Canberra after failing to activate a clause in his contract - requiring him to play 10 first-grade games this year - that would have netted an extension worth more than $220,000 for next season.

Melbourne and South Sydney are in the hunt for the former Maroons forward's signature but the Dragons have emerged as the wildcard.

Brisbane sacked Costigan in August 2006 after a series of misdemeanours but Bennett's move suggests there are no hard feelings.

"I know Wayne from Brissie and he's been good to me," Costigan said. "I'd like to be coached by him again. No one ever thought he'd leave Brisbane. To be able to be coached by him again would be pretty exciting.

"Whenever I see him, a couple of times a year, I have a good yarn to him. He asks me how I'm going. I've still got offers from Melbourne and Souths so it's a pretty tough decision. I'm mainly thinking about getting into the Raiders team [this season] so it's still up in the air at the moment."

Costigan believes he is capable of mounting a case for an Origin return in the right environment.

"That's one of my biggest goals," he said. "The main thing, though, will just be to play good footy, wherever I go."