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The NSW Waratahs are mulling if the time is right to hand young five-eighth Will Harrison a Super Rugby debut against the champion Crusaders in round one.
Veteran Wallaby Kurtley Beale has the inside running in a tight race to start the Super Rugby season at five-eighth for the Waratahs following injury to Mack Mason.
New head coach Rob Penney will make a call later in the week over who wears No.10 for their daunting opener against the Crusaders in Nelson on Saturday.
He's still to ascertain if Mason's groin injury will rule him out after the 24-year-old missed training on Monday.
There's also the possibility of handing a competition debut to 20-year-old Will Harrison and finding a wider berth for the versatile Beale, who has been a sporadic starting five-eighth in recent years.
Promising junior Wallabies playmaker Harrison has impressed in trials but assistant coach Chris Whitaker said the nature of the first-round match, away to the three-time defending champions, could count against him.
"Will's going to be the future of rugby, like a lot of guys are here, but I suppose now it's the balance of when to throw him in and give him that experience," Whitaker told journalists on Monday.
"What we don't want to do is throw him in on a big occasion where it hurts him. We've got a few options there."
If Harrison is on the bench in Nelson, he can expect field time, with the Waratahs claiming to have learned their lesson from last season, when Bernard Foley was over-played at No.10.
Then-rookie Mason was barely used off the bench through the first five rounds and then endured a game to forget in his starting debut - a shock home loss to the Sunwolves.
"It was unfortunate for Mack," Whitaker said.
"If it went to plan, our intention was to give him game time in those first three games.
"Unfortunately those games came down to one or two points and we had the incumbent Wallaby No.10 (Foley) playing, so things didn't work out the way we wanted. I put my hand up for that."
Whitaker said ball retention would be a focus this week, having gifted Queensland too much possession in their final trial loss in Dalby on Saturday.
