Fruean could soon make a permanent move to the right wing © Getty Images

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In a switch up that could prove to be a genuine position change, Robbie Fruean was named on the right wing for the Crusaders final pre-season trial match against the Reds on Friday night.

With injury ruling out Jone Macilai, with a broken arm, and the unavailability of Nemani Nadolo, who is still in Japan, Fruean was shifted right after an impressive return to the side during their opening trial matches, and coach Todd Blackadder believes the position switch could result in a genuine change for the powerful ball-running centre.

"We are looking at options; we wanted to give Tom [Taylor] a run at No 12 as well," Blackadder said. "It is genuine that we could select Robbie at No 14. We know he is more of a midfielder but he was really keen to have a good run there. It's good cause you know we can have a look at Tom at 12 who then obviously with a guy like Robbie who's keen to go anywhere on the wing. He's keen to do the job."

In another positional switch, Colin Slade has been named at fullback against the Reds, a position he is familiar with after starting in the role for the second and third round last year.

"We have very much got an open mind, we are not going to pre-determine too much," Blackadder said when asked if Slade would get any time at fly-half. "With Sladie, we thought it would be easier to slot him into 15 and let Dan [Carter] get some consistency from his start last week."

Blackadder, meanwhile, said he was excited to see Carter in a positional head-to-head against rookie playmaker Karmichael Hunt after the Reds named the high-profile recruit at fly-half.

"Yeah it's going to be great, it's a little bit of the unknown and I think it's a good start for the Reds for him anyway. It's about us and putting some pressure on him; now the guys been around a lot, like Dan Carter, I'm sure that it should be a really good battle."

Slade wasn't too surprised to see a player such as Hunt make the move to rugby.

"It's not a shock, you know it's great to have a guy like him and his profile in our sport," Slade said. "You know if he does anything like what he did in league and AFL, he'll make a good physical team contribution, he'll make a good hit around it. You guys have been watching him; he's always been a pretty talented rugby player and athlete, and I'm sure he'll pick it up pretty well."