Who is AJ Brimson? England’s newest recruit profiled including possible role

England head coach Shaun Wane has a new recruit to potentially select in this year’s Ashes: with Gold Coast Titans star AJ Brimson officially eligible for the national team.

Brimson had his international eligibility officially switched on Thursday, after the IRL board unanimously agreed he should be allowed to transfer to being able to represent England.

He featured in the 2019 World Cup 9s for Australia, but has never played in a senior international match. But Brimson, with the blessing of the Kangaroos,

IRL chair Troy Grant said: “This was a unique case in that a player who qualifies for two Tier 1 nations had elected to represent one of those nations in 9s and was therefore unable to represent the other nation in 13s.

“Yet the player has had no further opportunity to represent his elected nation in 9s, as he had anticipated, and has also not played a Senior International Match.

“The aim of the international eligibility rules is to ensure that the best players are able to represent a nation for whom he or she qualifies but in this case the player had been left sidelined.

“The tribunal therefore felt that player Brimson should be allowed to switch his international eligibility from Australia to England and approved his application to do so.”

Here’s the lowdown on Brimson.

How does Brimson qualify?

Through his mother, who was born in England before moving to Australia. He’s the latest in a growing number of NRL players who qualify for Wane’s squad through that route.

Victor Radley is now a mainstay of the England side courtesy of his English father, for example.

Other potential call-ups including Canterbury star Max King are eligible due to being born in England and then moving to Australia as a youngster.

How has his career gone so far?

Pretty well.

Brimson made his debut for the Titans in 2018 and has remained with the club ever since. He’s subsequently made well over 100 appearances in the NRL.

A Junior Kangaroos representative – and, as mentioned, a member of the Kangaroos’ World Cup 9s squad in 2019 – Brimson has also walked away from adding to his four State of Origin appearances, too.

He was most recently capped by Queensland in 2023, when he started against the Blues at fullback. But he now won’t be able to play for the Maroons due to the fact he is England eligible.

Where could he fit in the England team?

This is the interesting point. Brimson is very much the definition of a utility as so far in his career, he’s played in a plethora of positions for the Titans.

He’s featured at fullback, centre, stand-off, scrum-half and from the bench.

We can probably safely cross a line through a number of those positions right now. Fullback is one: it stands to reason that if fit, it’s going to be Jack Welsby wearing the number one shirt for England this autumn given the runs he has on the board.

This year, he’s played at stand-off in every single appearance for the Titans. That would lean towards a direct battle with Harry Smith and Mikey Lewis for one remaining spot at half-back, on the assumption that captain George Williams is a lock-in.

Centre is intriguing, given how England have Herbie Farnworth as a near-certainty on one side. The form of Harry Newman this year will determine how close to a guarantee he gets – but the Leeds man is another player Wane is very fond of.

In truth, Brimson’s best bet may well be the role that Lewis occupied in the Samoa series last year: 14. That role off the bench could be filled by a half-back or pivot if Wane opts for a hooker that can play huge minutes.

Incidentally, that’s the position Brimson occupied during the 2021 Origin series, too.

But with his utility value, Brimson has the air of a player who could definitely make the final squad, given how he offers options all across the park. Not to mention the fact that he has the quality to do so.