Gold Coast coach Josh Hannay moved AJ Brimson from five-eighth to centre after just three rounds and the early signs are the tough call will pay off.
Brimson has had four head coaches at the Titans and all have struggled to find a regular spot for him.
The 27-year-old England international has started 78 of his 140 NRL games at fullback, 44 at No.6 and 10 at centre while also having two games at halfback and six off the bench.
At the start of the season, Hannay’s intention and hope was for Brimson and Jayden Campbell to be his long-term halves, where they trained for months.
But Campbell missed the first two matches with injury and was replaced by Lachlan Ilias, who impressed the coach.
Brimson lined up at No.6 when Campbell returned in the round-three loss to North Queensland but Hannay saw enough to convince him centre was going to be best for the side.
"You'd be stubborn to your own detriment if you stick with something that you are being pig-headed about, just because at some point you believed strongly in it," Hannay told AAP.
"I put a lot of work into the pre-season with AJ at No.6 and we liked what we saw with his combination with JC.
"Unfortunately to open this season even he would suggest he was down on form at five-eighth in the opening three games"
Hannay said the loss of Campbell for the opening two rounds didn't help Brimson's cause but he still had to act.
"It is my job to look at the form of the players and if I feel like change is better for the team's benefit I will always make it," Hannay said.
"We made a couple of changes and he wasn't the only one."
Queensland prop Moeaki Fotuaika was pushed to the bench for the round-four win over St George Illawarra and had his best game of the year, while Brimson shone at centre.
"There is no doubt AJ had his best game of the season at centre against the Dragons," Hannay said.
Hannay said Brimson also outplayed his opposite number in the loss to Brisbane last week in a positive sign.
Brimson's speed, agility and energy are all valuable commodities in the centres that Hannay likes and he will play there again away at Parramatta on Sunday.
