The 25-year-old former Shellharbour Shark burst onto the scene as a teenager in 2015 and was tipped to be a future Origin star three seasons later.

The handbrake went on in a difficult 2019 that continued into the start of this season when he was initially overlooked for Tim Lafai and new recruit Brayden Wiliame.

After being recalled for two games on the bench, he forced his way back into in his preferred spot in round five and recaptured top form to be one of the club's best performers this season.

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It made the club's call to not even offer him a contract for next season a surprise, with the Merimbula-Pambula product instead linking with the Warriors on a three-year deal.

"The Dragons didn't offer me a contract to stay here at all so I had to do what's best for my family and myself," Aitken said.

"I'm not going to lie, it shocked me a little bit just because I've been with the club for a long time and I thought I was playing good footy.

"It was tough but it is what it is in that sense.

"It's a business at the end of the day and they obviously thought they needed a change.

"It's sad to go, I've got plenty of great mates in this team, but I've got no ill-will for the club."

He admits he probably needed a change himself. McGregor is the only coach he's known at NRL level, while new interim coach Dean Young was in charge when Aitken was part of the club's NYC set-up.

The Warriors, which already features Milton-Ulladulla's Jack Murche, are going a fresh direction themselves having appointed Nathan Brown as coach and Phil Gould in a consultancy role.

Along with Aitken, the club's added Kane Evans and has made a big-money play for stood-down Dragons star Jack de Belin pending the outcome of his much-publicised court case.

It leaves Aitken confident he's joining a club on the rise, even through the challenges the club has faced in order to keep the NRL afloat this season.

"The Warriors are a team that's on the up, they've faced a lot of adversity but they're moving in the right direction and the right people are getting involved," Aitken said.

"It still feels a bit surreal because I've been at the same club a long time now, but sometimes a change is what you need.

"I wouldn't say I've gotten stale but you need to keep evolving, keep learning and getting different coaching perspectives.

"It's a new challenge too. When you've been at a club for a long time you get pretty used to what you do for a certain team on the field and at training.

"It gets to the point where you don't do a lot different.

"When you're at a new club you need to rip in and show your professionalism and all that sort of thing.

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"I'm looking forward to proving that in a new environment."

It may have been a bumpy ride through his past two seasons, but Aitken was happy to send McGregor - the coach who gave him his debut - out with a win last week.

"I think it was owed. Mary's put his heart and soul into the club, he's given everyone in that room opportunities to play rugby league," Aitken said.

"He obviously gave me my first opportunity in the NRL and we wanted to go out in a winning way for him.

"It probably wasn't that pretty, but we banded together and let him walk out on a win."