The Melbourne Rising have received a huge boost heading into round two of the NRC with the return of Wallabies to their starting side.
The Rising are coming off a four point shock loss to Perth Spirit in round one and welcome back experienced trio Lopeti Timani, James Hanson and Toby Smith.
"They definitely give us a lot of stability around the set piece area, so we're looking forward to have Lopeti, Toby and Chibba (Hanson)," lock Sam Jeffries said.
"It will definitely sure our scrum up and help us a lot at lineout time too," Jeffries said.
The Rising have been one of the standout teams of the NRC in the opening two seasons but have struggled to make the grand final, bowing out in the semi's in both seasons.
While the Rising are welcoming back three key players, they are wary of the experience of James Slipper and Rob Simmons who will run out for Queensland Country.
"They'll have a bit of flare in the backline I think and obviously with guys like Rob Simmons in the lineout they'll be quite good there as well," Jeffries said.
Jeffries rated the Rising's scrum work and knows they'll need to continue to build of that if they're to snatch a win over the powerful Country forward pack.
"We just got to play to our strengths, obviously our scrum was quite good last week and we'll continue to build on that, but also forwards just giving backs that front foot ball that they'll need to attack," he said.
The Rising host Queensland Country at 3pm LIVE on FOX SPORTS.
