David Pocock talks to locals after a Wallabies recovery session © Getty Images

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Michael Cheika will swing the selection axe on Friday, when he is due to cull one-quarter of his 40-man squad ahead of the Rugby Championship Test against South Africa at Suncorp Stadium, but the players have no idea who will be on the chopping block.

The Wallabies are still shuffling through as many combinations as possible at their Sunshine Coast training base, and No.8 Ben McCalman says it is still too early to tell who will go or what the team that will face the Springboks might look like.

"It's very unclear what the final make-up will be," McCalman said. "I'm sure Cheik and the coaches have some ideas but it's just [about] competing hard at the moment. They're certainly giving nothing away but I guess the positive is there's a lot of depth in Australian rugby at the moment in certain positions."

It is difficult to glean much insight from Cheika's 15-on-15 opposed sessions, given how rapidly players have swapped positions, but he may be close to settling at least on parts of his backline with Queensland halves Quade Cooper and Will Genia spending plenty of time together alongside centres Matt Giteau and Tevita Kuridrani.

McCalman is likely to find himself on the right side of Friday's cut with his main rival Wycliff Palu restricted to light duties, opening up the possibility of a start against South Africa for the Western Force hardman.

Waratahs pair Israel Folau and Kurtley Beale have also been wrapped in cotton wool, the pair afforded an extended rest after the Super Rugby finals, while Rob Horne is in the thick of a seven-way battle for a wing spot.

"It's hugely contested, like every position," Horne said. "But what better way do you want? We've got guys that are all Test quality and someone's going to miss out. We're going to make each other better and that's the way it is. We're going to need everyone. Rugby's a sport where it's opportunity-based and guys fall over and that's just the nature of it."

The Wallabies are expected to announce which 10 players have been trimmed from the squad on Friday afternoon, before moving to Brisbane to finalise their preparations for the Test.