AJ Brimson has declared his high hopes to ace his new position on the eve of his first season as the Titans' right centre.
The 25-year-old is dreaming big in his shift to the outside backs with a huge desire to take the competition by storm and claim one of the most prestigious honours any player could at year's end.
"I want to be the Dally M centre of the year... that's my main goal," he told titans.com.au.
"Obviously I’ve made a bit of a move over the off-season, but I’m just going to do my best there and I’m enjoying it at the moment."
An accolade Cowboys centre convert Valentine Holmes notched up in his first year switching roles, it's a more than achievable goal for the Gold Coast livewire and Brimson showed he could well be on his way to achieving the same feat after the recent trial against the Eels.
Brimson runs the length
He didn't look out of place in a solid 60 minutes on field - racking up 176 running metres, a line break, two tackle breaks and an impressive four-pointer that saw him in full flight to score the masterful try... a sight many have come to know and love.
Squashing reports he was unhappy with the change, the only concern the 99-gamer had when first mooted with the change was being limited to only one side of the field; although new coach Des Hasler quickly extinguished those fears with how he wants the long-term Titan to play.
"It was more an involvement thing for me," Brimson said.
"It wasn’t so much… 'oh, my position (of fullback) is gone'. It was more at fullback, you can get your hands on the ball more, but Des has given me freedom to not necessarily do what I want but he wants me more involved."
Highlighting defence as a key target he's honed in with the change, Brimson proved that with his reliability against Parramatta - making a number of key tackles and finishing his stint on field with an impeccable 100 percent tackle efficiency.
It's something he wants to keep working on knowing he already has such a lethal attacking flair that he can quickly mould for the new role.
"I think centre is the most important defensive position on the field in terms of decision making in my opinion," Brimson said.
"That’s something I really want to knuckle down and I know attack will come with reps and I’ve got the attributes to do things in attack.
"Defence is something I really want to work on in my game.
"Kick chase and effort areas are things that I can control and attack will come off the back of that."
Match: Titans v Dragons
Round 1 -
home Team
Titans
16th Position
away Team
Dragons
2nd Position
Venue: Cbus Super Stadium, Gold Coast
Another big help in his transition has been the player he lines up inside of - long-time friend and teammate Phil Sami - with Brimson believing it will be a big blueprint in the pair's success on the right edge.
"I think a big part of wing and centre combinations is connections off the field," he said.
"You look at a pairing like Joey Manu and Joseph Suaali'i and boys like that, they’re close off the field and they seem to have good connections on the field.
"We’ve played together in 20s, we’ve played together in NRL and we’re kind of right next to each other and it is a lot easier of a transition having Phil outside me."
Brimson will notch up his 100th NRL appearance in his first game as a permanent centre against the Dragons on Saturday night.
