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AJ Brimson’s move to the centres has been confirmed ahead of the 2024 NRL season. Here, we’re taking a look at the skills he has to succeed at the position, and where he might need some time to develop.
Kieran Foran has already called Brimson an “opposition centre’s nightmare” and it’s not difficult to imagine him causing a few problems with the ball in hand. He’s quick, agile and a tackle-breaker. When he’s not tucking the ball under his arm and taking the line on himself, the 25-year-old can throw the final pass in a try-scoring action. He’s finished both of the last two seasons with double-digit try assist totals including 12 in only 14 games last year.
Brimson is coming into a new position under a new coach, but expect a few things to remain the same for him and the Gold Coast Titans.
It’s easier for a new coach to take the pieces he has been given and craft a game plan that maximises their skillset than it is to crowbar those pieces into a predefined system. As we see in how often they are moved along and with the current signing structure of NRL contracts, coaches don’t have time to build their own team before pressure mounts. With that in mind, I think Hasler will adopt a couple of aspects of the Titans attack we’ve seen in recent seasons. It’s not too dissimilar to some of the yardage sequences he used with the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles, either.
Moving the ball wide out of yardage was a prominent feature of their attack throughout the Justin Holbrook era. This is one of the quickest teams in the NRL on the edges, and the space on offer when working from your own end is too good to pass up in every exit set. It’s something I expect Hasler to continue to some degree with Brimson’s move to the centres a major reason.
The spaces in a defensive line are bigger further from the play-the-ball and teams tend to compress even further when defending yardage sets. If the Titans can shift the ball quickly and put Brimson into space with room to move, he’s going to cause a few of those nightmares Foran mentioned with his speed and footwork.
Whether it’s taking a flat pass or playing out the back of shape behind a lead from his back rower, Brimson’s ability to change direction at pace will create opportunities for the Titans attack. We’ve seen him beat jamming defenders plenty in the past. That is a skill that will translate directly into his play as a centre, provided the Titans continue to adopt a swinging attack on the edges.
He will threaten without the ball, too.
Brimson finished Round 27’s win with a try and try assist, and both came through fullback-like involvements.
If there is one area we can guarantee Brimson will dominate from day one, it’s in his support play. His instinct is to always push up with the ball, which he did for great success against the Bulldogs.
Popping up on both sides of the field and pouncing on half-breaks from his backrowers, Brimson clicked into gear to turn a half-chance into points.
It’s in defence where Brimson may face a steep learning curve. At roughly 90kg, according to NRL.com, Brimson is a smaller body at centre. His speed and ability to evade defenders are dangerous in attack, but he will face a few tough battles defensively.
Josh Addo-Carr made light work of him with room to move out wide here:
The Titans are already fairly small on the edges, whether it’s Tanah Boyd or Tom Weaver in the halves. Put Brimson out there and opposing teams will scheme up shapes to test them.
We saw the Bulldogs set up to run Viliame Kikau at Brimson last year.
First, they sent Max King at Klese Haas. By bringing Haas into the tackle, the Titans are forced to flip a big body over to the short side. In this case, it’s David Fifita.
The Dogs run out of room and Haas does a good job of closing down Matt Burton’s time with the ball from marker, but it’s easy to picture Brimson faced one-on-one with a barnstorming backrower if they get it right. He’s a good tackler around the legs, but as Kikau does here, the offload is a dangerous play for the attack.
Brimson is a very good fullback. If it doesn’t work out in the centres, he can slot back into the #1 jersey with relative ease. However, Hasler needed to find more minutes for Jayden Campbell. Too much happens around the youngster for him to come off the bench and spend limited time on the field.
The move to centre makes sense from a team-balance point. It puts the Gold Coast’s best players on the field for 80 minutes. However, both Brimson and Campbell have questions to be answered defensively throughout the early stages of the 2024 NRL season.