Wallabies coach Eddie Jones says he has not predetermined who will be his fly-half or captain for the Rugby World Cup, indicating he will "walk the floor" and take stock from the performances produced in Super Rugby Pacific before making two of the biggest calls for his first season back in charge of Australia.
Jones was in a typically talkative mood on Thursday afternoon when he addressed the Australian media via Zoom for the first time since he was handed the job at the expense of Dave Rennie, the 62-year-old even firing back a couple of witty barbs to NRL boss Peter V'Landys.
Asked about V'Landys' comments that rugby had become boring, and that the coach would have 30 minutes to spend on "TikTok" every game, Jones replied: "I think he's been probably sitting in TAB too much mate, I encourage him to get out of the TAB and go and watch some Super Rugby, I'll invite him to a game, mate."
While the odds of V'Landys taking up Jones' cheeky invitation to attend a Super Rugby Pacific match appear fanciful, the Wallabies coach will himself be getting around plenty of games as he seeks to turn Australia from a 5-9 team in 2022 under Rennie into one which is capable of lifting the Webb Ellis Trophy.
Central to that will be the selection of his fly-half, a position where Rennie had installed a clear pecking order headed by veteran Quade Cooper.
"With any selection, there's a number of factors. One, at Test level in particular, there's historical form," Jones said. "If you build up good performances over a period of time, obviously you are at the top of the tree.
"Then there is current form, which will be the Super Rugby, which will also be important. In terms of how we want to play, again the way we want to play, the intent of how we want to play is going to be the important thing. Australian rugby has always been at its best when we have been really tough, we fight, we have that real hard edge about us. So we want players who can play like that...and then we need to be a smart team, because in some areas we won't be as athletically gifted as others so we need to be smart about the game.
"So I am looking for a 10 who can play tough in that position, particularly in terms of decision making and be really smart about how he plays the game."
Jones namedropped each of Ben Donaldson, Tane Edmed and Noah Lolesio, before also discussing Bernard Foley's performances for the Wallabies on last year's spring tour.
When asked about Queensland Reds veteran James O'Connor, Jones said: "He is a fantastic utility player. He is a guy who can play in a number of positions, he has matured nicely, and he is another one who could come into the reckoning. We are not short of people there. We just have to find the right fit."
Cooper, meanwhile, is on the comeback trail from an Achilles injury and last week told reporters there was "no timeframe" for his return, but said that he hoped he would get back for the tail-end of Japan's League One season.
That will likely leave Cooper short on minutes ahead of Australia's Rugby Championship campaign, although the veteran playmaker has shown in recent times that he has the ability to slot back in with limited time in the saddle.
"You've got to be available and as it stands when Super Rugby starts, he won't be," Jones said of Cooper.
"We'd be hopeful he would be and playing in Japan isn't a concern, only that at the moment there's the Giteau Law and there's a number of players we can use so we have to be cognisant of that; but he'll be one of the blokes I meet. I had a bit of a chat on text with his old mate Will [Genia] the other day because I've been watching him playing for the last few weeks.
"It's good to see those two guys still playing and certainly when Quade came back he didn't look out of place and looked more mature; still gifted in terms of his ball play and decision. He's got that good short-kicking game that makes him a dangerous player and he certainly added a lot of physicality to his game which as a younger player they do struggle with a bit.
"The big thing is to get fit and start playing. When he does that, then he comes into recognition."
As for the Giteau Law itself, Jones indicated he would discuss the current Overseas Player Selection Policy with Rugby Australia but also hinted he may be keen to select more than the three players which it is currently limited to for the World Cup.
One player who is almost certain to be among that mix regardless is Samu Kerevi, who will also be hoping to catch the tail-end of Japan's League One season after an ACL tear at the Commonwealth Games ended his 2022 campaign.
The powerhouse centre has also been mentioned in conversations about the Wallabies captaincy, with Jones taking an open mind for the leadership of the team after Michael Hooper's mental health break and James Slipper's recent stint as the national skipper.
Allan Alaalatoa also captained the Wallabies on the spring tour last year, while Nic White is another senior player who led the team when Slipper went off in Bledisloe I last year.
"That's going to be really important," Jones said. "We need to find a captain who can galvanise the team. Whenever you change coaches or change the team environment, as what's happened, the captaincy becomes even more important.
"So we need someone who can quickly galvanise the troops (and) work closely with me, because every captain and every coach combination is different. So the right captain for a particular coach is not necessarily the right captain for another coach.
"It's a bit of appraisal. I have just got to walk the floor initially. Find out about each of the players, meet with them face to face. I have started having some preliminary phone calls, talk to the players and then we will make hopefully an educated decision."