Ewen McKenzie using uncertainty at training to drive Wallabies squad ahead of Bledisloe opener

IF the coaching bug ever leaves Ewen McKenzie, he'd be well advised to take up poker; he gives nothing away.

IF the coaching bug ever leaves Ewen McKenzie, he'd be well advised to take up poker; he gives nothing away.

It is most understandable this week of all weeks, when against the might of the All Blacks, he has little else in his favour except the element of surprise.

McKenzie has been tinkering with various combinations but the players are in the dark as to their chances of playing on Saturday at ANZ Stadium.

Journalists have been banned from watching training sessions in case they get a sense of the starting side, and McKenzie enjoys uncertainty among his own players.

"I’m quite keen on ensuring we’ve got depth and competition," he said.

"In my experience, the most competitive you can make the training environment, the best you’ll get out of the players, because they’re naturally competitive.

"The more you keep mixing it up and keeping it fresh and making the challenges, they like that sort of training."

Ewen McKenzie

What is guaranteed is that whoever is selected in McKenzie’s maiden Test team, they will be looking to expose the very few weaknesses in the world champion Kiwi side.

What has been raised as a potential area of concern is their ageing squad, and the lack of game time by skipper Richie McCaw, who has not played a full top-level game in eight months.

"I’ve got no idea in terms of where he’s up to, but whoever they put out there, we’ll be trying to test them in different ways," McKenzie warned.

The Wallabies had a feisty session last Saturday when players pushed the physicality to its limits for a training run, all eager to press their claims.

"That was a pretty willing session," McKenzie said, adding that he is not going to overload his side with reams of detail and information, a criticism of his predecessor Robbie Deans.

"You’ve got to have a balance and not overcomplicate things, you’ve got to have enough to win but you can’t mind-numb them with lots of stuff," McKenzie said.

"In the end you can find a lot of detail, you can keep looking and looking, but you’ve got to find the things that are going to have the biggest impact on the day.

"There are enough things to concentrate on, this week is about honing in on some of those ideas we’ve already practised. This week will be about reinforcement than anything new, we’ve already got everything sorted in what we want to do, it’s a matter of sorting out who we’re going to get to do it."

While New Zealand has held the Bledisloe Cup since 2003, McKenzie rejected the old enemy would hold psychological sway over his troops.

"We certainly aren’t going to get bogged down in the history of what’s happened in the last period of time," McKenzie said.

"We know that the Wallabies have been quite capable of winning the trophy in the past and quite capable of beating New Zealand.

"It happens, New Zealand do lose games. They lost a big game to England last year — they do lose and we’ve got to make sure we’re the team out there putting the pressure on them.

"They’re in transition from what I can see, they’ve got a few selection decisions of their own, working out the positions and where they are in terms of experienced players versus young guys coming through."