The Rebels and Reds will be the only Aussie sides to take each other on in the Brisbane Tens pool stages, after the draw was announced on Wednesday.
Melbourne and Queensland have been drawn in Pool A, alongside Japanese powerhouse Panasonic, which includes Aussie internationals Berrick Barnes and
Flanker David Pocock may well be back in the Brumbies fold by the competition in February 2018, as he prepares to return to Australian rugby after sabbatical.
NSW find themselves in Pool B alongside last year's champions, the Chiefs, as well as French side Pau and the Highlanders,.
Waratahs centre Kurtley Beale said NSW would certainly be looking to come away with silverware, after missing out on the knock out stages in the inaugural tournament.
"I think as a squad it's going to be a great opportunity for us to be able to really approach this tournament to try an get something out of it," he said.
"A lot of teams, if you're coming up here not to try and get something out of it then you're not going to get anything out of it.
"For us, I think it will be important to come up and try and win it, as simple as that.
"Every team will be trying to win it, it's important that we try and give it our best and try and express ourselves and try new things and new plays to try and give us a better edge to start the competition off before Super Rugby.
"I'm not quite sure what the tactics are there with Daryl (coach Daryl Gibson)and how he's going to approach it but I think it'll be a nice way to start the season off, to try and breed a bit of a winning culture so that we can take that into the start of the Super Rugby competition."
The competition lacked some star power in year one, with no current All Blacks allowed to play under their collective bargaining agreement, but Beale said he felt more players would put their hands up in the second season.
"I think it's a great tournament, I think obviously preseason's one of the toughest things while professional sport and this is a great way to break up preseason, to test our skills under pressure, to test our fitness, to see where we are against the other teams in the competition and really where our skills are at," he said.
"Obviously it's a great competition and there's going to be, it's not going to be a breeze that's for sure, so there's going to some huge challenges and I think the open space is really going to test us and that decision-making to be able to put on a really good performance."
The order of play for the women's sides was also drawn on Wednesday, and Queensland women's player Kiri Lingman said the developments in women's sports this season, on a day where the NRL announced a domestic competition and a year where women's sevens played their first national university tournament, were exciting for everyone.
"It's so huge on social media at the moment so many players are stepping forward and doing what they can for their sports," she said.
"If everyone's moving forward, we're all moving forward together."
The Brisbane Tens runs from February 9-10, 2018.
POOLS
Brisbane Tens 2018
Pool A
Panasonic Wild Knights
Rebels
Blues
Reds
Pool B
Pau
Waratahs
Chiefs
Highlanders
Pool C
Fiji
Brumbies
Hurricanes
Crusaders
Women's order of play
Reds
Waratahs
Rebels
Brumbies
