Joe Schmidt will name his final Wallabies squad on Friday, and the outgoing coach is poised to tear up the playmaking depth chart he spent much of last year building.
Schmidt is due to unveil a group of around 36 players at Allianz Stadium on June 19, drawn from a 40-strong Players of National Interest squad currently in camp in Sydney, a fortnight out from Australia's season opener against Ireland on July 4 at the same venue. The match will also bring the curtain down on Schmidt's tenure, with outgoing Reds coach Les Kiss set to take over ahead of the August Tests against Japan.
The most striking shift is at fly-half. Carter Gordon is poised to reclaim the No.10 jersey after an injury-hit Spring Tour in which he played just one of five Tests following his return from rugby league, while Western Force playmaker Ben Donaldson, left out of the end-of-year tour, is also set to be recalled. The big mover, though, is 26-year-old Brumbies playmaker Declan Meredith, a new face who has been included ahead of his clubmate Tane Edmed.
Edmed's omission is pointed. The Brumbies No.10 featured in each of the Wallabies' last six Tests of 2025, but he and veteran James O'Connor, who started for Leicester last week, are both set to miss out as Schmidt finally turns the page on a player he had repeatedly leaned on.
Meredith's inclusion still jumps out. Schmidt name-checked him earlier in the year as a player who had caught his eye, but the playmaker's form tailed off as the season wore on, coinciding with the Brumbies dropping five of their last seven games.
Elsewhere Schmidt is expected to be conservative. He is set to resist calls to parachute uncapped Super Rugby rookies Treyvon Pritchard and Sid Harvey into the squad, despite former Wallabies coach John Connolly publicly urging him to back the pair given their promise. Tate McDermott returns at scrum-half after a hamstring injury, with Ryan Lonergan and Kalani Thomas the other halfback options.
It is up front where the Wallabies are most concerned. Schmidt has lured the nation's most-capped player, James Slipper, out of international retirement. The 151-Test prop had hung up his boots after last year's Rugby Championship but is understood to have answered the call. The move follows an injury to Blake Schoupp and lingering worries over a tight five that was repeatedly overpowered late in matches during last year's winless November tour. Lukhan Salakaia-Loto is expected to add physicality in the second row after Will Skelton's season-ending injury.
Angus Bell, finishing a one-off season at Ulster, is set to start against Ireland, while Taniela Tupou and Allan Alaalatoa will bolster the front row once Tupou's Racing 92 campaign ends in the Top 14. Uncapped pair Massimo de Lutiis and Zane Nonggorr are battling for the third tighthead berth.
The midfield poses the trickiest questions, with Len Ikitau finishing his club season at Exeter this weekend and Japan-bound Hunter Paisami likely to miss the July Tests with a knee injury. Uncapped duo Isaac Henry and David Feliuai have been included in the wider group, and Benetton-bound Josh Flook is firmly in the mix.
The stakes for Schmidt are personal as much as professional. His winning percentage sits at 39 per cent, and the former Ireland coach is determined to leave with his legacy intact, in front of a sold-out Sydney crowd, a large chunk of which will be dressed in green.
