Canterbury playmaker Ben Roberts is using the rest of 2011 to prove to future employers Parramatta why he should wear the blue and gold No.6 ahead of Jarryd Hayne next NRL season.

Punted to the NSW Cup after just seven minutes off the bench in the season-opener, Roberts has found a new lease of life under interim Bulldogs coach Jim Dymock in recent weeks.

Set for his fifth straight appearance in the starting line-up against Sydney Roosters on Saturday night, Roberts' re-emergence as a key playmaker in the Bulldogs set-up has kept the club's finals hopes alive, while also giving his long-term prospects a boost.

The former Kiwi Test representative signed for the Eels while languishing in the lower grades, and immediately set his sights on the Parramatta five-eighth jumper.

And despite Hayne's moderately successful transition to the five-eighth role, Roberts said the move hadn't changed his focus for 2012.

"That's one of the main goals of mine, I'm not going to lose any focus with that," Roberts said of being Parramatta's first-choice pivot next season.

"Whatever the coach wants of me, I'm there, I'm going to do it.

"You've got Haynesy there who's capable of playing that position and doing a really good job at it.

"All I can really do is put my head down and bum up and train hard and let the coach know that I'm ready to play."

While Roberts regained his spot in the NRL squad while sacked coach Kevin Moore was still at the helm, it is under Dymock's guidance that he has started finding the form which elevated him to the ranks of Test footballer.

Dymock has done his best in the two weeks he has been in charge to have his side mirror his own playing style.

"Jimmy's the sort of bloke that likes his team to play football - he's given us the go-ahead to throw the ball around a bit, to actually play football," Roberts said.

"He knows what each player's capable of, when he played footy he was always pretty skillful, he liked to throw that ball around.

"It seems to be working, a lot of the boys seem to agree with that, they're happy to do that."

Last week's golden point win over Parramatta lifted the Bulldogs to within two points of the top eight.

They have their finals destiny in their own hands with a relatively friendly run over the back end of the season, with just three of their last six games against sides currently in the top eight.

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