MIDWAY through last NRL season, amid mounting media speculation about the prospect of Kalyn Ponga switching to five-eighth, Newcastle Knights coach Adam O'Brien raised the subject with me during a telephone conversation.
It was clear O'Brien was no fan of the idea.
He didn't want Ponga making 30 tackles a game in the front line. He didn't want him restricted to one side of the field. He didn't want to burden him with the responsibility of getting a kick away on the fifth tackle, instead of roaming around, looking for attacking opportunities.
O'Brien said he had not completely ruled it out, but I was left in no doubt about his feelings on the issue.
It was no great revelation, given that 12 months earlier, O'Brien expressed similar sentiments, declaring on the record: "I see him as a bloody good fullback at the moment and I'm not looking to move him any time soon."
Now, however, O'Brien's previously firm views about Ponga's best position appear to be softening after the coach revealed on day one of pre-season training that he "hadn't completely decided on it yet".
O'Brien said it would depend on how Newcastle's roster looks when it's finalised, but added: "Is he doing some components of five-eighth in his training? Yes he is."
Everyone is entitled to change their mind, but perhaps what makes this about-face so surprising is the composition of O'Brien's squad.
Newcastle would appear to have an array of options in the halves, having signed Jackson Hastings (Wests Tigers) and Tyson Gamble (Brisbane) to compete for selection with the likes of Adam Clune, Phoenix Crossland and Kurt Mann.
When it comes to the custodian role, however, candidates other than Ponga are apparently few and far between.
English import Baily Hodgson is yet to debut in the NRL after two injury-interrupted seasons. Mann and Dane Gagai have both played their share of fullback over the years but could hardly be considered specialists.
The Knights made an unsuccessful attempt to sign Manly's Reuben Garrick and have been linked to former rugby union sevens flyer Lachlan Miller, who is under contract to Cronulla for next season.
The Sharks might yet release Miller, but that is still to be confirmed.
All of which raises the question of why O'Brien is now considering a move that previously he seemed eager to avoid.
I can't help wondering if at least part of the rationale revolves around protecting Ponga, who sat out Newcastle's final seven games last season after suffering a spate of concussions.
The Queensland Origin star has endured a number of knocks over his career after crashing to the turf while defusing high kicks.
Moreover, he regularly finds himself involved in high-speed collisions as Newcastle's last line of defence, like when he was knocked senseless trying to save a try by Penrith's Viliame Kikau last season.
Shifting to five-eighth might remove him from such perils and prolong his career.
O'Brien isn't the first Newcastle coach to ponder this dilemma.
His predecessor, Nathan Brown, relocated Ponga to five-eighth (at his request) at the start of the 2019 season to accommodate his housemate, Connor Watson, in the No.1 jersey.
After a full pre-season for Ponga and Watson to transition, the trading-places scenario lasted two-and-a-half games before Brown pulled the plug and reinstated Ponga as fullback.
The haste with which Brown abandoned the project would suggest he wasn't convinced it would work in the first place.
Before the season was finished, Brown had disappeared out the back door.
Now, four years down the track, there is a sense of deja vu as O'Brien arrives at a similarly pivotal juncture.
Knights fans can only hope that this time the story has a happier ending.
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