Esan Marsters could move to the second row this season as he aims to reignite his NRL career with Gold Coast and put himself back in the selection frame for New Zealand.
The 25-year-old's preferred position remains centre but he played as an edge forward in the under-20s and has trained in both roles for the Titans over the summer.
He could get a refresher of life in the pack when he comes off the bench for the Maori All Stars against their Indigenous counterparts at CommBank Stadium on Saturday night.
Marsters said he and Gold Coast coach Justin Holbrook both had the idea of a positional switch.
"I think we were just short on back-rowers and he thought I could be mobile and use my leg-speed there," Marsters said.
"It's nothing new. It's just getting back to that work rate, making more tackles. Especially on defence, that's something I need to work on."
David Fifita, Kevin Proctor, Beau Fermor and Sam McIntyre rank among the Titans' other second-row options while Brian Kelly and Patrick Herbert are the incumbent centres.
After leaving Wests Tigers, Marsters joined North Queensland in 2020 but his form tapered off.
He only managed 15 NRL games for the club before a mid-season switch to Gold Coast last year but has "no regrets" from his time in Townsville, praising the Cowboys.
"Stuff didn't work out up there and that's the poor thing," said Marsters, whose second child is due in March.
"My life out of footy was really good, I made a lot of friends, loved the area that I lived in.
"But you've also got to play good footy and I was unfortunate not to have that side of my life."
The most recent of Marsters's six Tests for New Zealand came in 2019 and he hasn't given up hope of earning selection for the World Cup in England starting in October.
His first priority, however, is rediscovering his consistency.
"Kiwis is definitely where I want to be and what I want to get back to. I know how much work it takes to get back there," he said.
"I've had a good pre-season on the Goldy. Hopefully I get a Kiwis call-up at the end of the year."
