Caleb Timu admits he still hasn't got his head around rugby union as the former Brisbane Broncos forward enters his third Super Rugby season with the Queensland Reds.
But the code-hopping fringe Wallabies back-rower is becoming more comfortable at Ballymore, where he says the Red Hill work ethic he experienced with the Broncos has crept in.
Reds coach Brad Thorn and assistant Peter Ryan both won premierships with the Broncos, while Timu will be joined by his former junior rugby league teammate Bryce Hegarty this season.
Timu debuted for the Wallabies last year but finished the season down the pecking order with coach Michael Cheika asking for improvements in his "game knowledge".
The 25-year-old knows that will come in what is effectively just his second Super Rugby campaign after a knee injury confined him to the club circuit in his return to the code.
"I feel like I'm still grasping things, but I'm a lot better from when I first came across (in 2017)," he said, ahead of the Reds' trial against Melbourne in Ballarat on Friday.
"Just playing more rugby will help that, really this is only my second full season."
Timu said Ryan's arrival at Ballymore had helped him shed the extra kilos and sharpen the team's defence.
"I think big thing has been the culture, coming from the Broncs, they have a real winning mentality, they're physical and professional and that's helping us," he said.
Meanwhile, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto has been named to play his first game since an emotional Test against Argentina on the Gold Coast ended with him in a sideline scuffle with a fan.
Salakaia-Loto withdrew from Wallabies duty after that September Test and had his surname legally changed from Tui to honour his late step-father, who had died suddenly in the lead-up to the game.
Frontline Wallabies Samu Kerevi, Taniela Tupou, Izack Rodda and Sefa Naivalu won't play against the Rebels, while Timu hopes to get one over former Reds playmaker Quade Cooper when he runs out in Rebels attire for the first time.
"He's got really good feet, you don't want to end up on his highlight reel," Timu said.
Reds squad: Harry Hoopert, Feao Fotuaika, Ruan Smith, Gavin Luka, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Efi Ma'afu, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, Harry Hockings, Angus Blyth, Angus Scott-Young, Liam Wright, Caleb Timu, Adam Korczyk, Fraser McReight, Scott Higginbotham, Moses Sorovi, Tate McDermott, Scott Malolua, Hamish Stewart, Teti Tela, Duncan Paia'aua, Chris Feauai-Sautia, Filipo Daugunu, Jock Campbell, Bryce Hegarty, Jack Hardy, Will Eadie, Isaac Lucas.
