Kahu set to snare North Queensland No.1 gig: Green

Jordan Kahu had Darius Boyd in front of him for the past four seasons blocking his path to playing in his favourite position but now he is set to play in the No.1 jersey in his first NRL game for North Queensland.

Kahu impressed in the trial win over Melbourne at fullback and North Queensland coach Paul Green provided a telling clue when asked whether he would start in the custodian's position in next Saturday's clash with St George Illawarra.

"I'd say so at this stage. I've got to go through a few different things and look at a few different combinations but I would say that would probably be the case," Green said.

"He's a good player, an experienced player. He's a professional. He's played for New Zealand. He'd got a good, calm nature about himself too and an air of confidence about playing back there.

"It is his preferred position but given the other players who have been at the Broncos over that period he's had to play most of his footy at centre, but he really wants to have a crack at playing fullback.

"He is not going to be overawed by it."

The 28-year-old will then face his former club Brisbane in round two of the Telstra Premiership.

Green has a big decision to make on his starting spine. With Kahu favourite to play fullback, Michael Morgan to play in the halves and Jake Granville at hooker the choice will be between Te Maire Martin and Jake Clifford for the other playmaking role.

While form and results will determine how long Green persists with his spine he also does not want to be chopping and changing.

"You also need to let the players feel comfortable. You don't want them to feel the pressure that one mistake and they are going to lose their position," he said.

"That is not a healthy environment to bring out the best in people so I'll give them a few games."

The Cowboys were hoping to fine-tune their combinations in the spine when devastating floods hit, the same week that fullback Ben Barba was sacked, so Green and his men have been working to make up for lost time.

"We did lose two weeks of training and the timing of it was probably the most important thing," Green said.

"Part of our plan for that period was to focus on that team stuff so not only did we lose a key player we weren't able to train.

"The staff have done a good job at keeping them physically ready to play so it will be more about honing that teamwork and combinations."