HULL KR's Craig Hall says he is confident of stepping in and deputising for suspended stand-off Travis Burns in the opening four matches of the season.
Hall will find himself in the same position as this time last year, when he was called upon to fill in for the injured Blake Green alongside Michael Dobson.
But unlike last year, Hall will defend in the normal half-back position, rather than switching to the wing when KR are not in possession.
"I was pretty happy with my defence against Hull on Sunday," Hall told the Mail.
"Last season I was defending on the wing and attacking at half-back, but this year I'm going to defend where the normal pivots defend, rather than doing two jobs.
"It will help me to focus on doing just one key job, filling in for Travis while he is out."
Hall got his first taste of pre-season action when he played the first 51 minutes of Rovers' 28-18 win over Hull at the KC Stadium.
He missed the first two friendlies because of a foot injury picked up during Rovers' warm-weather training camp in Tenerife before Christmas.
But he showed he was up to speed with a try, and a crucial interception of a Mark O'Meley pass deep inside the Rovers half.
"I was a bit rusty as it was my first hit out and I still have some work to do on some areas, but going forward it wasn't too bad," he said.
"As a team, our first 20 minutes was really good.
"Defensively, their only try in the first half came from a kick, which we're happy with as nobody ran through us.
"Our timing in attack was a bit off, though, but the more we work on those things the happier we'll be.
"Pre-season has been pretty good overall. It's been very positive. Now we have to take that into the new season, take each week as it comes and, hopefully, start with a win over Catalan."
