Dual World Cup winning inside-centre Tim Horan has urged Robbie Deans to shift rising superstar James O'Connor to the Wallabies midfield for the upcoming international season.
With incumbent No.12 Berrick Barnes sidelined indefinitely with the mysterious 'footballers migraine' condition, Deans must choose between O'Connor, Matt Giteau and Anthony Faingaa for the opening Test against Samoa on July 17.
All of O'Connor's 27 Test caps have been earned at either full-back or wing after making his debut as an 18-year-old against Italy in 2008.
But after impressing for the Western Force at both flyhalf and inside-centre this Super Rugby season, Horan is convinced O'Connor deserves first crack at the No.12 jersey.
"He's obviously got to be in the 15 first of all and then where do you put him?" Horan said of O'Connor at the Manly Marlins business luncheon in Sydney on Friday.
"He's got to be closer to the action, on the wing he's too far away and obviously Kurtley (Beale) is going to be at 15."
"I think he only played two or three games there for the Force at 12 this year but I liked what I saw ... I've got no doubt he'd do a fantastic job there."
"You've got to start to build those combinations ... (Quade) Cooper and James, they're similar players as well, and I think if you have someone like an Adam Ashley-Cooper at 13 you've got a direct runner so you're able to have two guys inside there that can create."
"If Quade does get caught in a breakdown you need someone else to stand up and be a ball distributor from first receiver and James could do that because he's played plenty of 10."
However, Horan concedes playing Cooper and O'Connor side by side is not without risk.
"The only concern is having a Cooper and O'Connor combination there defensively," he said.
"If you've got someone like a Sonny Bill (Williams) coming at you you've got to make the tackles, but obviously he's (O'Connor) dealt with that since he was a kid because he's a small guy."
He added that Giteau, who finished 2010 on the Wallabies bench after starting at inside-centre for most of the campaign, still has a major role to play for Deans' side as an impact player.
"I'd be having Giteau on the bench to cover nine, 10, 12, and then you could have Faingaa on the bench as well covering 12 and 13," Horan said.
"I don't know what the selectors will do, I'd say they'd go with an out and out nine reserve as a specialist, but for mine Matt Giteau's experience has got to be there somewhere."
Meanwhile, Horan backed the Reds to handle the weight of expectation ahead of Saturday's Super Rugby semi-final against the Blues at Suncorp Stadium.
"They won't put the cue in the rack, they'll keep playing," he said.
"You'd think with the players they've got back now like Faingaa and Beau Robinson back is important."
"It's an important game for Queensland rugby but it's important for rugby as a sport because of the way they're playing."
"They've got the x-factor with three or four players there and the way they've played this year there's no fear there."