Dragons coach Paul McGregor was pleased with Ben Hunt's performance at dummy-half in Sunday's win over Cronulla but stopped short of saying it would be a permanent move.
Hunt, who has played hooker at Origin and Test level, scored a try and set up another after being introduced from the bench to help St George Illawarra win their first match of the season.
The 30-year-old said post-match that he felt less pressure compared to playing halfback.
"He's a great person, Benny, he understood the reason behind it," McGregor said of the switch.
"We had a good conversation before I announced that side. It was just more about him relaxing a little bit and going out and enjoying his footy.
Morris responds to talk he's under pressure
"He seems to do that well at nine and that's going to benefit the side as well because I feel with the way the game is having two nines in your side is pretty important.
"It's what the team needs now and that's the decision we make week to week."
Hunt's shift meant Cameron McInnes was forced to play lock for the majority of the contest and the tough captain didn't shirk his task.
"He's just a competitor," McGregor said of McInnes, who scored a try from a Hunt pass.
"I feel he'll be more comfortable with time if he plays in that position. He's been training in that position pre-season ... He runs hard, defends well, he's very fit and he competes on every play, so he'll be fine."
McGregor made two other key changes - reinstating Matt Dufty at fullback and dropping veteran forward James Graham to the bench.
Match Highlights: Dragons v Sharks
The mentor said Graham's demotion had nothing to do with his form and instead was a tactical decision to exploit the Sharks and benefit Hunt around the ruck.
He emphatically complimented Dufty, who scored a try, assisted two others and ran for 197 metres in an electric display.
"I'd never, ever challenge Matt Dufty's talent. Ever," McGregor said.
"I've actually been the biggest supporter to anyone who wants to listen [about] how good Matt Dufty's talent is. It's about making sure that he's busy all the time, and today he was. I thought he was outstanding."
Despite the relieving result, McGregor conceded the scrutiny about his future is unlikely to drop off.
"I've got good self-awareness. I know where my control starts and finishes and my job is to train the players as best I can and get them ready for each week," he said.
He added of the club's situation: "Do we need to improve more? Absolutely. We're a proud club and we're not happy where we are."
McGregor explains Hunt reshuffle
Meanwhile, Sharks mentor John Morris addressed recent reports linking England rugby union coach Eddie Jones to Cronulla.
The second-year NRL clipboard holder said at no stage had anyone from his club informed him about his job being under threat.
"I've had massive challenges around the club with the salary cap fine, I've had to let players go as a result of that," Morris said.
"[We] played finals football last year in my first year as a rookie coach, so I don't want to sit here and feel sorry for myself or anything like that, but I think I've done a really good job so far.
"We had a lot of injuries to our top five players last year as well and we can't put our main side on the park at the moment.
Ravalawa double secures win for Dragons
"The Eddie Jones stuff, amongst all that, obviously caught me by surprise as it did with a lot of people. I'm obviously contracted here till '21. So I can't read too much into that.
"You'd have to speak to the club ... There's been no mention at all to me about my position.
"It came from left-field after our win last week against the Cowboys – we were singing the team song up in the sheds and they were reporting on Fox that my job was under pressure, so that totally blindsided me."
Morris was hopeful that fullback Matt Moylan will be ready to go for next round's clash with the Bulldogs after being ruled out of the Dragons match due to hamstring tightness.
