Hunt will get a baptism of fire when he takes the flyhalf reins against the ACT Brumbies on Friday night, thrust into the chief playmaking role in his first game of professional rugby in Australia.

But Canberra has been robbed of a chance to see former Wallabies bad boy James O'Connor in action, with the talented back's Super Rugby comeback put on hold. Former New Zealand star Adam Thomson has also been ruled out.

The Reds will also be without Wallabies stars Quade Cooper and Rob Simmons, leaving a huge hole in the line-up.

But World Cup hopeful Hunt insists the Reds shouldn't be written off in the Australian derby.

"I'm comfortable with [making decisions] because we've got Will [Genia] there at nine. A lot of load has been put back on my shoulders but Willie will take a little bit off," Hunt said.

"There's really no choice of not being comfortable. My preference is Quade playing and me being at fullback. But the situation is we need a No.10 and I've put my hand up.

"I'm really looking forward to it. The Brumbies are a pretty physical team, I'm looking forward to that. We want to play some football, we want to play Reds rugby.

"We've got some young, raw talent. We are looking forward to the challenge and we want to come away with the result."

Hunt is already preparing for a one-on-one match-up with Wallabies playmaker Matt Toomua.

Flyhalf Toomua is regarded as one of the hardest-hitting back-line defenders and he will have Hunt in his sights as the two battle at Canberra Stadium.

"I imagine [I will run into him] ... he plays a pretty physical game and I'll do my best to negate him. A lot of times he runs the ball straight, so I'm looking forward to it," Hunt said.

The Brumbies were bracing for a match-up with O'Connor as well, but the former Australian rugby bad boy has struggled with illness and injury since returning from France last month.

"It's disappointing not to have [O'Connor and former All Black Thomson] because they're both good footballers and you want to start the season with them," Graham said.

"But we felt we were rushed with both of them with another 15 round games to go after this. It would be foolish to risk them now."

The Brumbies-Reds derby kicks off a massive year for Australian rugby with Hunt and O'Connor signing Super Rugby deals with the hope of securing World Cup selection.

Wallabies coach Michael Cheika is casting a wide net in his search for Australian talent and has drawn up a list of almost 50 potential World Cup players.

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham is also set to double up as a Wallabies back-line coach to boost Australia's World Cup chances, but his No.1 priority is Super Rugby success.

The Brumbies have been warned against taking the Reds lightly, despite a massive list of unavailable players including Cooper, Simmons, O'Connor, Thomson, Anthony Fainga'a, Greg Holmes, Eddie Quirk, Ben Tapuai, Beau Robinson and Dave McDuling.

Asked what Hunt could expect from his Brumbies initiation, Larkham said: "We contest everything, we put a lot of pressure on the opposition and not necessarily the No.10.

"We try to get pressure on every player and everything to us is a contest. We haven't specifically spoken about Karmichael or targeting Karmichael, but [big-hitting defence] is in [Toomua's] game, so he picks and chooses those decisions to go up.

"But it's not a focus for the team. The vibe is good [in Canberra] and the focus is definitely there for the game."

SUPER RUGBY ROUND ONE

Friday: ACT Brumbies v Queensland Reds at Canberra Stadium, 7.40pm. Tickets available from Ticketek.

Brumbies team: 1. Scott Sio, 2. Josh Mann-Rea, 3. Ben Alexander, 4. Sam Carter, 5. Rory Arnold, 6. Scott Fardy, 7. David Pocock, 8. Jarrad Butler, 9. Nic White, 10. Matt Toomua, 11. Joseph Tomane, 12. Christian Lealiifano, 13. Tevita Kuridrani, 14. Henry Speight, 15. Robbie Coleman. Reserves: 16. Stephen Moore, 17. Jean-Pierre Smith, 18. Ruan Smith, 19. Jordan Smiler, 20. Ita Vaea, 21. Michael Dowsett, 22. James Dargaville, 23. Lausi'i Taliauli.

Reds team: 1. James Slipper, 2. Saia Faingaa, 3. Sam Talakai, 4. James Horwill, 5. Marco Kotze, 6. Curtis Browning, 7. Liam Gill, 8. Jake Schatz, 9. Will Genia, 10. Karmichael Hunt, 11. Lachie Turner, 12. Samu Kerevi, 13. Chris Feauai-Sautia, 14. Chris Kuridrani, 15. Jamie-Jerry Taulagi. Reserves: 16. James Hanson, 17. Ben Daley, 18. Sef Faagase, 19. Ed O'Donoghue, 20. Adam Korczyk, 21. Nick Frisby, 22. Duncan Paia'aua, 23. Campbell Magnay.