Brumbies centre Irae Simone has backed rookie flyhalf Noah Lolesio to continue his strong debut season when Super Rugby AU kicks off next month.
Lolesio was one of the breakout stars in the opening seven rounds of the competition, stepping up into the hole left by former skipper Christian Lealiifano and earning a spot in the Wallabies' Players of National Interest group.
The 21-year-old came into the season untested in Super Rugby, though a highly-rated player, and still brought with him an element of the unknown for opponents.
As Super Rugby AU kicks off, though, teams will have had three months to break down his strengths and weaknesses and formulate plans to contain him.
Opponents will pay him more attention and external expectations will be as high as ever with his stellar start to the year still fresh in fans' memories.
Simone said that wouldn't faze the young 10, whose confidence has been one of his biggest assets in his rookie season.
"Nothing's going to change for him, he plays good footy when he's confident and he just backs himself," he said.
"For me as well, it's about just taking a bit of pressure off him, just allowing him to play his game as well and that's part of doing my job as well.
"Noah's going to be just as excited and energetic and I don't think he's going to be tweaking a lot of things in his game.
"He's been playing some really good footy, he's very exciting player.
"You're going to see Noah kicking a lot more and if not, then if we're not kicking then we're looking to run it.
"He's going to have a good balance but I think Noah's going to be unreal, no pressure on him, but nothing's going to change for him.
"He's always energetic and he's good around the forwards as well, great communicator."
Simone said the Brumbies wouldn't be trying to rein the creative Lolesio in either, happy to let him take risks where he felt he needed to in games.
"He plays with confidence, I'm not going to tell him not to do that or do this kind of stuff," he said.
"I'm just going to let him do his own thing and when he's paying well it's easier for other players to play well as well, it boosts a lot of boys' energy.
"He's going to learn in those kinds of ways and in games as well, building reps at training, throwing those flick passes if he needs to, (or not) if it's not on, that's what the training paddock's for.
"For him he's just going to keep doing what he's doing, what he's doing well, doesn't have to change much.
"Probably just defence as well, we've got to keep working hard together, building those relationships."
Lolesio's role could be even more influential in the Super Rugby AU competition with the introduction of the tempting 50/22 law, opening up the door for more in-field kicking to advantage.
NRC teams had a taste of the law last season but with little time to prepare for it and less consistency among their lineups, coaches have said it wasn't exploited as it could have been.
Simone said the challenge would be in choosing the right time to pull the trigger.
"The best thing for it with those rules is opportunity," he said.
"There's always going to be space somewhere on the field, so it's either backfield if there's three guys at the back, we call it the pendulum, or there's going to be space on the frontline," he said.
"It's just execution, our skills of getting the ball to where the space is and that's where it's going to break teams, where we find those spaces and take those opportunities.
"It's exciting footy and I think it's going to bring crowds in I reckon and I think especially for the outside backs, they're going to love it as well."
The Brumbies take on the Rebels in their Super Rugby AU opener on Saturday July 4, kicking off at 7:15pm AEST, LIVE on Foxtel, Foxtel Now and Kayo Sports.
