Dynamic duo: Brimson and Campbell combo off and running

Injured Titans halfback Kieran Foran has thrown his support behind his side’s new-look halves pairing of AJ Brimson and Jayden Campbell as they prepare to start their season without him.

The premiership winning five-eighth was taken from the field with a biceps injury in the first half of their Pre-Season Challenge win against the Dolphins, and will now undergo surgery, but he has vowed to return by the back end of the season. In the meantime, he was impressed with what he saw from his young team-mates.

“They were super; I thought the spine – nine (Sam Verrills), seven (Campbell), six (Brimson) and one (Keano Kini) – were just outstanding,” Foran said.

“I thought the way they connected out there; they've been doing it all pre-season, and they're just excitement machines.

“You could just see the style of footy that they're able to play, off the cuff, and they just allowed their natural ability and skill and speed to take over at times which was just super impressive.

“They're going to play an instrumental role in the outcome of our season.”

There has been much speculation about how the Titans would line-up for their Round 2 opener against the Bulldogs, with natural fullbacks Campbell and Brimson making way for rising rookie star Kini in the number 1 jersey.

Both have a ball running style of play that Foran thought would work well for the team this season, with the pair showing glimpses of what they could do together when they combined against the Dolphins.

“I think we've seen teams in the competition take on that style … bringing different sort of fullbacks into play and turning them into halves and we've seen various clubs do it; I think it's no different with our guys,” Foran said.

“They're both natural ball runners, but they've both got an incredible ability to play eyes up and have the skill to execute on top of that.

“I think just the way in which they've worked together throughout pre-season, it holds them in good stead for the season.

“They've had a few injuries over the past couple of years, if they can find that consistency on the field like we saw tonight, they'll be dangerous week-in, week-out.”

Brimson agreed and said while they would not be looking to a club like Melbourne Storm, who have crafted the likes of Cameron Munster and Jahrome Hughes into a formidable halves pairing as a template, they would take inspiration from their success.

“I wouldn't say a template, we don't look at Storm and try and play the same way, but it is a good confidence-booster knowing that their spine … four or five years ago, it's probably similar to what ours is now in terms of they've got three fullbacks that have all kind of moulded into their own positions,” Brimson said.

“JC's a very skilful player who can play six, seven or one, probably other positions too.

“So not trying to copy Storm, but it is good to see that they've made that transition as well.

“(Campbell) has put his hand up there for the team and he's already got an actually good kicking game, so it kind of suits him, but he's probably not going to be the most traditional 7 in terms of like a Cleary or Reynolds, but we don't want to take any threat away from his running game.

“At the end of the day, he does have a good kicking game and he's really good at communicating, so he's slotted in pretty well there.

“I love being just in the spine, six or one; I just have to tackle a bit, so that's a bit annoying, but that's life.

“But in terms of attack, it's very similar, as you saw (tonight), I got a lot of hands on the ball, so that's just all I want to do.

“I just want to have an impact on the game in attack.”