JARROD Nyssen has never played halfback before, but Lake Macquarie coach Gareth Polamo is confident the Kiwi has the skill set and the confidence to be a success.
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The Roos' Newcastle and Hunter Rugby Union premiership hopes could hinge on.
After playing fly-half in almost every game, Nyssen replaces Matt Ferry in the No.9 jumper for the sudden death showdown with Merewether at No.2 Sportsground.
His move is two fold.
It helps accommodate the return of class act Brendan Holliday and eases the Roos' player points issues.
Lake Macquarie's player points cap is 24, which includes bench players.
After failling to win a game last season, the Roos recruited heavily. Under the player points system, each new player is worth three points. Players in their second year at a club are worth two, and third year players, one
As one of a dozen fresh faces, Ferry is worth three points and would increase the points value of the starting side to 23. Leaving just one point available to be used off the bench.
Nyssen, who returned to Walters Park this year after a couple of seasons in Sydney, accounts for a point.
As it stands, the Roos have 20 points soaked up in their starting side. They have another eight points in the players named on the bench, of which they can only use four points.
"Having Jarrod at nine provides a few more attacking options for us, especially in the direction of the forwards," Polamo said. "That's the logic behind it, and a major factor is the player points system.
"It wasn't not an easy decision to make. Guys have been playing there all year, but I feel this will offer us a bit more.
"To my knowledge, Jarrod hasn't played at halfback but he has the skill set to do it. The extra preparation after last weekend was washed out has helped. He has spent the past two weeks passing off the ground. I'm not concerned about that.
Holliday has played two games back from a broken collarbone and can expect Merewether to send traffic in his direction.
"Brendan is an experienced campaigner and knows what he needs to do to get by," Polamo said. "We are a direct team and we just need to play that way. We want to get some momentum and provide time and space for Brendan to use our outside back, guys like Hayden Pedersen. If you give him room, he can create something from nothing."
Merewether have come from behind to win both previous encounters, 31-29 at Walters Park in round nine and 19-15 at Townson Oval five weeks ago.
Jay Strachan scored two tries against University last round in his return after five weeks overseas.
"That is us at full strength," co-coach Mick Gill said. "It's about getting on the front foot from kick off. You can't wait 20 minutes and say 'let's go'. We need to get going straight off the kick off and get in the trenches early. We have gone to more speed and power based training in the past four weeks. We hope to use that to our advantage."
