Sydney Roosters everywhere man Setaimata Sa is the first to admit he has a lot to learn about playing at five-eighth between now and the start of the NRL season.

Sa made his first start of the 2009 pre-season in Saturday night's 34-20 trial loss to Parramatta at Campbelltown Sports Stadium, but was largely a peripheral figure in the No.6 jersey.

The utility, who made a handful of appearances at five-eighth last season, will take on the role full-time for the start of this season following Braith Anasta's switch to lock.

But the Kiwi international didn't see a lot of the ball in Saturday's trial, with halfback Mitchell Pearce and Anasta still doing the bulk of the playmaking for the Roosters.

And the 21-year-old admitted he was still trying to find his feet in the new role.

"I think I've got a lot to learn, a lot to improve on," he said.

"I'm just there to fill in this hole and see how it goes, I can also cover the second row, so I'm not too fussed about where I play but when I'm at five-eighth, I'm going to give it my best.

"At the moment I'm just keeping it simple and trying to build on that."

Observers at Saturday night's match may have wondered what the numbers on the player's backs stood for with Anasta seeming to spend most of the game in a traditional five-eighth role in attack while Sa stood deep in the backline.

But Pearce said he could see the logic behind coach Brad Fittler's decision to put Anasta and Sa into new roles.

"It's not much different I don't think but it's the first time we've played with Sa there ... we'll just keep working on us three together and get it right for round one," Pearce said.

"He (Fittler) probably just wants to get Sa a bit closer to the ball because he's a great runner. He put that ball on to our winger tonight and that looked unreal so he's got a lot of potential.

"So I suppose it's about getting him a bit closer to the ball and having him and Braith either side will be a bit of a handful once we get it all right."

And Pearce said the time between now and the Roosters season opener against Souths would be crucial to developing the understanding between himself, Anasta and Sa.

"It was only really last week that we had a couple of sessions together, we've got two weeks now to do it everyday and hopefully get it right for round one," he said.

"Unless Freddy changes something, but we've been training like that so I don't think he'll change much."

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