After all, Dwyer, the 1991 World Cup winning coach, is totally against the idea of the 44-capped Wallaby playing in any starting side in the playmaker's No.10 slot.

Told of the statistics from Champion Data that show O'Connor has won only one of his 17 Super Rugby games in which he has started as the five-eighth – with the other games including one draw and 15 losses – Dwyer said he would not play him there "at all".

The Reds, who will face the Waratahs at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane on Saturday night, have lost first-choice No. 10 Quade Cooper to a shoulder injury and Karmichael Hunt who is not for consideration, no matter the outcome of his appearance before Southport Magistrates Court on Thursday relating to cocaine supply charges.

However, Dwyer believes the Reds should start another player at No. 10 like Nick Frisby - or find another option - and run O'Connor in one of the mid-field to outside backline positions where his counter attacking assets and defence can be best utilised.

"To be able to play in the restricted in the backline – at scrumhalf and flyhalf – requires a certain mentality," Dwyer said on Wednesday.

"When I look at a player [like O'Connor] and think that player is really good at doing things – like he is an executor - he is a great runner, has great vision, has great agility, has great instinct. It's rare that player can play in the restricted position. A player of that capacity wants to be actually achieving things himself. Those positions [Nos. 9 and 10] require someone who understands his limited contribution to the overall good. Some are capable of both, but it's not common. That's why I would not play [Waratah] Kurtley Beale and James O'Connor at five-eighth.

"That sort of player in general is best suited to No. 13  - possibly to wing or fullback where you haven't got people outside you depending on things you do."

One obvious exception to Dwyer's rule is Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham who excelled at No. 10 at Super Rugby and Test level after moving there from full-back.

Mat Rogers also switched from fullback to No. 10 with the Wallabies during the 2005 Tri Nations and for that year's spring tour and the Waratahs in 2006. He said he found the greatest challenge was adapting to play around the set-piece: "As an outside back and you hear a call and know where you have to be off the five-eighth or outside centre. You are running lines off everything that happens around that 10 area.

"Playing 10 you have to know what channel the ball is coming out from the scrum, or whether it is coming out from the front or the back of the line out. You have to know the scrum and line out calls because if you stuff the timing up everything is screwed up. And then you have to make the calls."

Told of with Dwyer's view that outside backs can have difficultly playing in "restricted" positions like five-eighth or at half-back, Rogers said: "I agree."

But he added: "When they get it right they are the best players in the world. Bernie Larkham was a runner ... the best fly-half we have had for many years."

Hence, Rogers won't rule out O'Connor's potential as a No. 10, especially if he is given time in the position which is not what Rogers got a lot of in rugby until late. "When you have a player with the style of game of O'Connor, if he can get it right he can be devastating. I think James can handle it, " Rogers said.

"I played every position in the backline but halfback. People would say, 'He is so versatile.' But it was so hard. I remember thinking, 'Man, I wish I could just play in one spot.' I loved playing at the Waratahs when I was just fullback or just fly-half. I didn't have to worry about shifting around. Rugby was a fun game, but the challenges were definitely in shifting from the outside back position to the fly half. That came as a raft of challenges that few people saw."

A not so Super Rugby record at No. 10*

(O'Connor's Super Rugby win rate starting at five-eighth)

Force – Played 7, won 1, drawn 1 lost 5

Rebels – Played 9, lost 9

Reds – Played 1, lost 1

From 17 games starting at No. 10 – won 1, drawn 1, lost 15

Win rate – 6 per cent

* Statistics supplied by Champion Data