Wallabies and Waratahs coach Michael Cheika must be confident Israel Folau will stay in rugby union beyond 2015, declaring he is unlikely to experiment much with him at outside centre until next year.
Folau has won a swag of local, national and international awards for his dashing play from fullback in his first two years in the 15-a-side code.
While there was talk of Folau playing at outside centre from his earliest days with the Waratahs, he has been used almost exclusively at fullback.
Folau's first five Test caps under former Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie were earned as a winger, but the last 24 were all at fullback.
Talk of Folau getting a run in the No.13 jersey has resurfaced this year, however Cheika has no immediate plan to shift his major backline strike weapon into the midfield, as he feels he can still improve as a fullback.
"We've spoken about it (playing outside centre) since day one when he got recruited," Cheika said.
"But I still feel around some of the positional parts of the game, he's still got potential to fill at fullback.
"You never know, we might give him a run there (at outside centre), you don't know.
"But I'd say this year I'm going to focus on him playing 15 and next year perhaps making that transition into the centres."
Folau's contract expires at the end of this year and last week he said he had a lot of options.
Returning to rugby league is one of them, though union officials are hoping the possibility of him making the Australian sevens team for the 2016 Olympics might keep him in their code.
Prolific tryscorer Folau is sure to be one of the Waratahs' main weapons in the first match of their Super Rugby title defence at home to Western Force next Sunday.
The two teams split their games last season, with the home team winning on each occasion.
Cheika and openside flanker Michael Hooper both feel former Waratahs back-rower Chris Alcock could cause his old side some problems if he's chosen to replace injured Force skipper Matt Hodgson.
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