Kodi Nikorima has revealed he didn't know about coach Wayne Bennett's plan to switch him from fullback to the bench until the morning of Brisbane's NRL finals loss to the Sydney Roosters.
Bennett's plan to shield Nikorima backfired as the Broncos limped out of the blocks before eventually going down to the Roosters 24-22 at Allianz Stadium on Friday.
The Broncos were their own worst enemies, committing simple errors including a whopping 39 missed tackles and dropping the ball six times in the second half before Latrell Mitchell sealed the Roosters win in the 76th minute.
However the game seemingly changed when Nikorima was injected into the action after 20 minutes, replacing David Mead.
After skipper Darius Boyd was ruled out with a hamstring injury, Nikorima trained at fullback all week and was on Tuesday named in the No.1 jersey.
However Bennett pulled a selection shock that even his own players didn't see coming with Jordan Kahu moving to the back and Nikorima starting off the pine.
When he did come on, the Broncos were already 14-0 down but with him on the field, Brisbane won the final 60 minutes 22-12 and he finished with one try assist and two linebreak assists.
"Actually I just found out this morning," Nikorima told AAP in the sheds afterwards.
"Wayne came up with a plan. I thought it worked in a way. We didn't get the result.
"I think he did it just to take the pressure off me. There was pressure on me during the week, apparently.
"One thing that I've learnt is not to read into the media."
The Broncos playmaker has never started a first-grade game at fullback but was expected to be moved there with Boyd out.
Bennett chose to protect Nikorima after Roosters coach Trent Robinson suggested they were set to target him with the high-ball.
The New Zealand international played at No.1 during the 2014 National Youth Competition season and helped take the Broncos to the under-20s grand final that year.
He said he didn't feel out of place in the custodian position and was ready to fill the role in next week's semi-finals against Penrith or Manly if Boyd failed to recover.
Asked if Bennett's selection switch had thrown him or affected his game, Nikorima said: "Not really.
"I knew I had a job to do when I got on the field.
"Whether I started or played that role again, I knew I'd still be comfortable with that I had to do."
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