A desire to prove a point to Canterbury is driving Ben Roberts to be a success in Parramatta’s problematic five-eighth position.

The former New Zealand international playmaker spent large parts of last season playing for the Bulldogs’ NSW Cup side after being overlooked by former coach Kevin Moore and admits the lack of opportunities rocked his confidence.

However, a call from Eels coach Stephen Kearney at the back end of last season offering him the chance to get his career back on track has re-ignited the 26-year-old’s enthusiasm for the game.

“Last year was a learning curve,” Roberts told AAP.

“It made me appreciate how much playing first grade footy means to me.

“Having to get yourself up to play reserve grade is difficult, but you have to be professional.

“I did that which is one of the reasons why I’m here.”

Roberts said Kearney has already broken down the parts of his game he needs to work on and pinpointed precisely what he wants him to do in the side.

“No-one has really done that before,” he said.

“I know I’ve not played consistently for the last few years and Steve has identified things I need to do to improve that.

“My confidence was hit last year, but having a coach who believes in me will definitely get me back to my best form.”

Finding a regular No.6 caused no end of problems for Kearney in 2011.

Casey McGuire, the now departed Daniel Mortimer and Jeff Robson as well as Jarryd Hayne all filled the second receiver role to varying degrees of success, in a year that saw the Eels finish 14th on the ladder.

Roberts will assume the role in the season opener against Brisbane on March 2, where he’ll be entrusted to be the steadying hand in the halves, with fellow new recruit Chris Sandow very much the playmaker.

It’s a combination Kearney hopes will take the Eels into the finals for the first time since 2009.

“We’ve only played one trial game together but the more we play the better we’ll be,” he said.

“My job will be to keep my side of the field strong and complete my sets.

“My kicking game will need to be good and I think I went OK in that department in Saturday’s trial against the Tigers.”

Roberts knows he’ll be under pressure to perform, but the chance to prove Canterbury wrong is spurring him on.

“I need to firstly prove to myself I’m good enough and also show to them they made a mistake in letting me go,” he said.