Wallabies prop Matt Dunning is hoping his transition from loosehead to tighthead will extend his rugby career.

Dunning on Monday admitted his move had been challenging but enjoyable and said it may even delay the need to find a real day job.

More so than looseheads, tighthead props often play Test rugby well into their 30s, and 29-year-old Dunning believes there is no reason why he can't as well, providing he continues to perform.

"I've got no set profession to go into when I finish football," said the 37-Test veteran of two World Cup campaigns.

"I've definitely got some career paths I'm looking at, but they won't be hampered if I'm playing football until I'm 45.

"So I'll play as long as my body (allows me to) and coaches pick me."

A true survivor, Dunning has often borne the brunt of the criticism for Australia's internationally maligned scrum yet has happily and admirably made the difficult positional switch without fuss this year.

"Tighthead's a lot harder in many respects. There's more pressure," he said.

"You haven't got quite as much gas in the tank as you have at loosehead, but you can get a bit wider (in general play).

"But I guess the older you get, it's the position for me to play.

"I'm enjoying it. It's a new challenge, a massive challenge. It's sort of something that's really given me a real foundation to build my game on.

"I'm a long way from being great at it. I'm a long way from there, but I'll keep working hard at it and getting better and just get judged by how I perform each week."

He said the adjustments were many and varied.

"At tighthead, your head's got to be on at every scrum at tighthead, especially on your ball," Dunning said.

"Even on the opposition ball, you've got to be on. You can't have a bad scrum because you get punished.

"Whereas at loosehead, sometimes if you don't quite get it right, you have a bit of a rest and you get the next one, at tighthead you've just got to be on every scrum.

"If you're mentally just not quite there or you don't get the engagement quite right, you get punished and it stands out so everyone can see it.

"So you've got to get it right.

"And obviously there's pressure on both sides of your head, so there's more force coming through your body and often you're putting more weight through your body. It's a heavier load, I guess, compared to loosehead."

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