Prop Allan Alaalatoa says he was pushed to new mental limits and learnt plenty about himself during a brutal Wallabies train-on squad camp.
Coach Michael Cheika has been driving his charges hard, with the Wallabies needing to rebound from Australia's disastrous Super Rugby season heading into their Bledisloe Cup clashes with the All Blacks next month.
Because of their Super Rugby quarter-final the previous Friday, the seven Brumbies only joined players from the other four franchises in Newcastle last Thursday.
They missed two days of intense training, but Alaalatoa said the two they went through were the hardest he's ever experienced.
"You're going to hit some barriers there mentally and you probably think that you can't go any further, but it's up to you whether you want to push that extra distance," Alaalatoa said in Sydney on Monday.
"That's why I feel I learnt more about myself and I really came out stronger out of those training sessions and I learnt a lot.
"It was a good test for me mentally. I haven't been pushed that far mentally."
Alaalatoa admitted there was mental hurdles to overcome against New Zealand teams, with the All Blacks holding the Bledisloe Cup since 2003 and Australian sides losing all 26 trans-Tasman Super Rugby clashes this year.
"You just have to mentally put that all aside, when you come out against them, you just have to give it your all," said Alaalatoa.
"When it comes down to those dying moments in the game you just have to mentally pick yourself back up and then back yourself physically."
Alaalatoa has been on the losing side in all three of his Tests against New Zealand, though he came off the bench in each game.
"I'm sure that they are going to be the strongest side that we're going to come up against in terms of set-piece and scrummaging," he said.
"We watched those games against the (British and Irish) Lions and they really came out there and performed a strong set-piece battle."
Alaalatoa was one of the Wallabies stars in the June Tests, starting in all three games.
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