Braidon Burns stood in front of his South Sydney teammates, including Greg Inglis, at a pre-season team meeting and declared: "I want to be the left centre in our team for the grand final."

It was a bold statement from the 22-year-old, especially given superstar skipper Inglis already had a mortgage on the position. But Inglis himself was more than happy to grant Burns his wish. And so was new coach Wayne Bennett.

Centre stage: Braidon Burns is flourishing under the guidance of Wayne Bennett. Credit:AAP

Souths officials were just grateful Bennett was prepared to give Burns the chance to start in his preferred position, and not on the wing, where his confidence was once shattered on a forgettable afternoon against Penrith.

"In my opinion, he was the best centre in the NYC [youth competition], but we made the error of playing him on the wing - he had never played wing in his life and his confidence suffered,'' Souths general manager of football Shane Richardson told the Herald.