Braith Anasta insists he never had a problem switching to lock - it's just that the Sydney Roosters skipper didn't believe the club had a better option at five-eighth.

Until now.

The re-emergence of Todd Carney as an NRL force has seen Anasta embrace the move to the back of the pack, the new-look scrumbase a key in the Roosters' surge up the ladder.

With defences now setting their sights on containing the brilliance of Carney, Anasta believes the Roosters have become a far more potent attacking force - as evidenced by the 30-plus points they have put on the board the last three weeks.

Anasta bristles when questioned as to his reluctance to play at lock - a position he has sporadically since making his debut with Canterbury in 2000.

"I don't mind playing lock, it's similar to five-eighth, I was always open to the idea of playing lock," Anasta says.

"There's been times when I've nearly moved to lock, but we just haven't had the players to cover me moving.

"Last year Freddy (coach Brad Fittler) tossed up the idea in the pre-season and we gave it a bit of a crack in the trials, but we basically had backrowers playing five-eighth.

"The timing's perfect now - we've got a quality five-eighth in Toddy so there's no reason not to do it."

While Carney had shown glimpses of creativity as he spent the first half of the season at fullback, Anasta revealed the move to bring him closer to the action was hardly the inevitable shift many believed it was.

Ironically Pearce's call-up to the NSW Origin side helped accelerate the reshuffle, with Carney having excelled when moved into the role of No.1 playmaker in Pearce's absence.

But with Pearce back on deck and Anthony Minichiello having rediscovered the form which saw him capture the 2005 Golden Boot for world player of the year, something had to give.

"Toddy was getting a bit frustrated at fullback and you could tell he was getting a bit rattled and he wasn't quite comfortable there," Anasta revealed.

"Smithy came up to me during the year and said' Toddy's not too comfortable there, I think it's time we moved him up into the halves' ... there's been no turning back.

"Mini was playing great and it was like 'why move Mini', and Toddy's not comfortable there anyway, it was pretty obvious in the end."

And so it appears Anasta is there to stay.

"It looks that way - I'm happy to do it," Anasta said.

"As long as Todd's here and I'm here, certainly there's no reason to change it, it's working really well and we're comfortable with it."

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