Australia's rising crop of midfielders and the arrival of one Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will be giving coach Joe Schmidt selection headaches for the upcoming Spring Tour.
That's the view of returning centre Hunter Paisami, who trained alongside the likes of Hamish Stewart and Josh Flook as part of this week's Reds-Force Wallabies Hub at Ballymore.
Paisami, 26, is Australia's most experienced inside centre at present with 31 Test caps while incumbent outside centre Len Ikitau, 26, boasts 35 caps.
However, recent Test debuts to Stewart and Flook have tightened up the playing field while the re-emergence of eight-cap Wallaby centre Lalakai Foketi at this week's earlier Canberra Hub presents another option.
Throw in the likes of Joey Walton and David Feliuai - both of whom have featured in national squads this year - and the stage is set for a fierce midfield battle across both the Wallabies and Australia XV.
"It's been competitive, everyone in the centres has been training well and playing well as well," Paisami told reporters on Thursday.
"Pretty sure we’re giving Joe (Schmidt) a hard time to put names on a team sheet but for us it’s about being the best we can be."
Paisami is - understandably - eager to put an injury-plagued 12 months behind him.
Still stinging from the disappointment of missing last year's Rugby World Cup and back-to-back knee complaints, the centre declared his knee "100 per cent good to go" and cut a lively figure at Thursday's training session.
Paisami also addressed the return of junior rugby star Suaalii, whom has been touted as yet another midfield option for the upcoming Spring Tour, and paid tribute to teammate Massimo De Lutiis, who earned a surprise call-up to the Wallabies Reds-Force Hub as one of seven uncapped Queenslanders.
"It's been good to get some load back in it (the knee) and I'm grateful to be back in the mix for a gold jersey. It would mean a lot to be selected. " Paisami said.
"We're just trying to get those basics right and trying to look after that ball in the breakdowns, and also our momentum plans, knowing when to kick and turn teams around to put pressure back on them.
"I’ve heard a lot about Suaalii, obviously he’s a good player. I’m not sure where Joe would put him but I know whatever spot he’ll play, I know he’ll play well for the team."
"Guys like Mas (Massimo De Lutiis), I’ve watched him train the house down and he works his arse off," Paisami added.
"When that opportunity comes for him, I know he’ll take it."
