The 29-year-old whiz, who will join St George Illawarra next year, was a key figure in the 30-8 win over Gold Coast on Thursday night.
It was a test of character Drinkwater and his teammates passed with flying colours after being smashed 82-12 by the Sydney Roosters the previous week.
That horrific loss highlighted an issue the Cowboys must address in the weeks ahead. They are one win from a finals berth but have conceded 560 points this year at an average of 26.66 per match.
In 2022, Drinkwater was on fire for a Cowboys outfit that finished second in the regular season and had the second best defensive record in the NRL, conceding just 15.13 points per match throughout.
The personnel was different, but the Cowboys reached the preliminary final in 2022 with a wonderful team and the second week of finals in 2024 finals when outside backs Kyle Feldt and Valentine Holmes showcased all their experience and class.
"In 2022 we were relentless with our effort and our energy," Drinkwater said post-match in the sheds.
"We had different players and were probably a bit underestimated too after the two previous seasons and maybe taken a bit lightly.
"We were just real fit and our defence won us those games.
"In '24 I guess we had some good outside backs, veterans like Feldty and Val (Holmes).
"We're just a different team now. We've got young kids out there and we're different."
Rising outside backs such as Jaxon Purdue, 21, and 25-year-old Tom Chester are yet to play finals footy.
The defensive clout the Cowboys require must come from the collective.
"We just need to get it right defensively and work hard for one another," Drinkwater said.
"We've always got points in us.
"It's never really been an issue for us. I'm hoping that we take the effort and good defence out of the '22 team."
Drinkwater said he was "sheepish" after the loss to the Roosters. He was hurting. The response was the key.
"Obviously I don't want to relive what we did last week, we were always going to get a response out of us," he said.
"I thought we dealt with it pretty well during the week. Credit to the coaches. We didn't review it, which we didn't need to, we just knew what we were poor at - the whole performance.
"So we had the weekend off to refresh and it was a good victory tonight."
Drinkwater will savour every win while he can. He chuckled when asked whether his final days at the Cowboys felt like 'The Last Dance".
"I'm not going to refer to Last Dance, that's Michael Jordan's line, " he grinned.
"I'm not him, but yeah, it kind of is."
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