Roosters coach Trent Robinson concedes Blake Ferguson won't play fullback for the club next season, despite his recent success in the role.
The 26-year-old has been in scintillating form at club level since switching to fullback ahead of his side's Round 20 trip to Melbourne.
In the five games since, he has scored four tries, produced five try assists, averaged 180 metres per game, and broken 30 tackles for the Tricolours.
While his stats have been extraordinary, his days at fullback appear numbered with boom rookie Latrell Mitchell and new recruit Michael Gordon set to battle it out for the No.1 jersey in 2017.
"No I think he's a centre. It's his best position," Robinson replied when asked whether Ferguson would play fullback next year.
"Versatility is really important in a squad. We obviously weren't going to win the comp this year, but we've got some people in different positions and they've developed into some good footy players.
"That's the benefit of being able to move the guys around and see what they can produce."
Speaking to NRL.com following his side's 42-6 win over the Dragons, Ferguson agreed with his coach's assessment that his future was at centre.
"We've had plenty of chats about what my best position is, and we both agree that I play my best footy at centre," Ferguson said.
"I've played there for most of my career and that's where I probably feel I can contribute best to the team. But for the moment the best thing for the team is for me to play fullback and I'm happy to do that.
"I started the year at fullback, then moved to centre, and then I moved back to the wing during the Origin series.
"I've been chopped around most of the year but I'm enjoying it now at the back. It's good to finally get settled and play the one position for a few weeks."
The Blues winger started Round 1 of the Telstra Premiership season at fullback but was replaced by 19-year-old rookie Latrell Mitchell the following week.
Ferguson said that was always part of the plan for 2016, as was the decision to move him back to the custodian role for the backend of the year.
"We had chats earlier in the year about me moving to fullback down the track to give Latrell a bit of a rest because he's still a teenager and hasn't played a full season of first grade yet," he said.
"It would've been tough for him to play the whole year at fullback because it's so demanding on the legs, especially for a young kid.
"I played fullback out west when I played in the country. It's not an 'out there' position for me and it helps bring versatility to my game."
