Wallabies coach Ewen McKenzie is encouraging his players to "have a go" and reprise Australia's glory days of running rugby.

The Wallabies take on the All Blacks in the Bledisloe Cup and The Rugby Championship opener at ANZ Stadium in Sydney on August 17, and McKenzie is promising an innovative game plan to try to conquer the reigning Rugby World Cup champions.

"We're certainly not going to deny the players the opportunity to have a go," McKenzie said as his new-era Wallabies assembled in Sydney ahead of their campaign to regain the Bledisloe Cup. "People are expected to use their skill and, if they can create an opportunity, then go for it. It's not about limiting people by structure."

McKenzie won't give his entire squad a free licence to thrill, but he said that players such as Quade Cooper will have the freedom to apply the tricks they practise on the training paddock.

"You don't want to dampen the whole thing and say it's a Test match, you can't do anything - just kick to corners and let's keep it zero to zero," McKenzie said. "If you see an opportunity, then you've got to be able to take it. And that's the Australian thing. You've got to have a bit of a go."

Cooper is almost certain to return from his 11-month Test exile since describing as "toxic" the Wallabies environment under Robbie Deans, but McKenzie won't make radical changes to the starting XV.

"You arrive at this time and it's not a matter of chucking everything out the window," he said. "You have to accept that there were things going on that were quite good and world class, so we'll only be interested in changing things where we think we can get a benefit, I guess, from a base game. Then we'll look at tactically where are the opportunities against the All Blacks."

McKenzie will trim his training squad to 30 players on Friday.