The ACT Brumbies have lured scrumhalf Issak Fines back to Canberra as another No. 9 prepares to prove the Wallabies wrong in his rugby comeback on Saturday.
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Former Gungahlin Eagle Fines has finalised a deal to return to the capital following a stint with the Western Force and will team up with Joe Powell and Ryan Lonergan for the 2020 Super Rugby campaign.
He's the second player to return from Perth after prop Harry Lloyd signed a contract last week as the Brumbies add depth to their roster.
The signing news comes in the same week Powell is expected to end his rugby exile by playing for the Canberra Vikings in their National Rugby Championship heritage round this weekend.
Powell hasn't played at all since the Brumbies were knocked out of the Super Rugby finals in June, despite being a part of the Wallabies squad for the past 10 weeks.
The 25-year-old was left out of the World Cup squad and then bizarrely omitted from the Wallabies' clash against Samoa in Sydney.
Powell will give the Vikings a timely boost for their game against Brisbane City after losing to Queensland Country last week.
The club will wear an ACT rugby heritage jersey for their first home game of the NRC season at Viking Park.
Powell can send a reminder to Wallabies coaches, but a host of Vikings are just trying to prove they can handle the step up to professional rugby.
Australian under-20s prop Bo Abra has moved to Canberra in the hope of forcing his way on to the Super Rugby roster.
"I saw a chance down here and thought I'd take it with both hands," Abra said.
"I've really enjoyed it so far. It was an awesome experience at the [under-20s World Cup] this year ... my goal is to play for the Brumbies. I'd love to do that, but for now it's just the NRC."
Abra's junior Wallabies teammate Lachlan Lonergan is confident the Vikings can bounce back to get their NRC title hopes back on track.
Lonergan was thrust into his first NRC start last week after being called in as a replacement for Connal McInerney.
Lonergan is hoping to follow brother Ryan's footsteps into the Brumbies main squad as he sets his sights on a Super Rugby debut in the coming seasons.
"We'll take a lot of learning from a loss like [last week], I just feel like we didn't aim up as we should have," Lonergan said.
"Pretty much the majority of our team has come through the Aussie under-20s program and they're going well. It was exciting [to start]. I enjoyed it, thought it was fun and we'll see what happens when [McInerney] comes back."
NRC ROUND THREE
Saturday: Canberra Vikings v Brisbane City at Viking Park, 2pm