But we've been here before. Round one, 2008, in fact. The first match after the Stephen Larkham and George Gregan era.

Someone was about to begin the impossible mission. No-one, we thought, would be capable of wearing the No. 10 jersey like Larkham did.

The coach at the time, Laurie Fisher, took a punt on a 20-year-old. Christian Lealiifano played the first of his 150 games that night, and forged his on path to greatness.

That's why Noah Lolesio, Bayley Kuenzle and Reesjan Pasitoa should be comfortable this week. Because the nerves they're feeling about being the pony leaders in a team of Brumbies are the same nerves Lealiifano felt before he did the same.

"To be honest, I'm just excited," Lolesio said. "You definitely think about Christian and what he was able to do. But it's not really pressure, we all just want to show what we can do."

Perhaps that's why Dan McKellar was content to deliver his final instructions of the pre-season and then hand the reins to unknown kids at a team meeting last week.

Lolesio and Kuenzle shuffled nervously in their seats when McKellar gave them the stage. They looked at the Wallabies scattered around the room and then, just like Larkham and Lealiifano did all those years ago, went into flyhalf mode.

"Standing up in those meetings," Lolesio says. "I don't mind it. It shows the team we know our stuff and gives them confidence in us. I'm just excited, I'm ready."

The playmaker trio have one of the biggest tasks this year in a generational change across the team. They will compete for Lealiifano's No. 10 jersey this week, with Lolesio and Kuenzle leading the race for round-one duties on Friday night.

Lolesio, 20, Kuenzle, 21, and Pasitoa, 18, say they're ready to prove they've got what it takes to boss around a Super Rugby side. Pasitoa will become one of the youngest Brumbies in history, and the first born in the 2000s, if he makes his debut this year.

"It gives you confidence when you hear guys who have played for the Wallabies saying, 'you need to tell us, get stuck into us," Pasitoa said.

Off the field, though, they're still the rookies. Like the time a nervous Pasitoa walked into a Newcastle hotel lobby to find Scott Sio, the longest-serving player in the squad, waiting for him.

"Here's my bag," Sio said. "Take it up to our room."

"I let him get to the elevator before I stopped him, but for the rest of the week he asked when he could use the television remote and if he could use the towels," Sio grins.

"I thought it would be nice to break the ice. I could the chance to room with him and see what makes him tick.

"All three of them are great young kids. At some point, one of them will have to step up to fill that No. 10 jersey and I'm sure they're ready.

"I'm a firm believer in if you're good enough, you're old enough. If you're going to be the No. 10, you're the shot-caller.

"You've got to demand things from the group and direct people around. The more confident they are in that role, the more confident the team is."

So who are these kids, who are about to make their Super Rugby debuts and could be the next Lealiifano or Larkham?

All of junior Wallabies experience, either in the Australian schoolboys or under-20s squads. Pasitoa is still eligible to play for the Australian under-20s for the next two years.

Lolesio was the first to move to Canberra, leaving his tight-knit family in Queensland to pursue rugby in the capital. Within a few weeks the Brumbies had invited him to training. Within a year he won a first-grade premiership. Then he was offered a contract.

"I wanted to learn off [Lealiifano], but I wanted to compete as well," Lolesio said.

"Hopefully this is my time. I got homesick when I moved down here, I didn't know how to cook or do anything by myself. That was a huge learning step.

"But I'm a different person on the field. I don't have second thoughts, I don't hold back."

Kuenzle, a Newington College product was recruited for last season, but the Brumbies didn't want to rush his development.

They agreed to let him play first grade in Sydney for Southern Districts to help his transition, and the biggest and oldest of the playmaker trio wants to repay the faith.

"We know we're the young boys coming through, we've got to work hard at bossing the older guys around. That's tough when you see Wallabies, but we've got confidence doing that," Kuenzle said.

"It gets me out of my comfort zone, but I love it. It's just about having confidence in yourself. Last year helped me learn how to boss a team around, that was a good stepping stone.

"This is our first opportunity and we're young, but this is exciting. Hopefully the three of us can form a long partnership."

Perth-born Pasitoa, the baby playmaker, finished school at nursery Nudgee College a couple of months. His family has moved to Canberra to help him pursue his rugby career.

In fact, Pasitoa turned down NRL heavyweights Melbourne and the Roosters among others to choose a life at the Brumbies.

"This is what I've always wanted to do, I'm just keen to get out there and finally get a crack," Pasitoa said.

"If I get that opportunity, I will always back myself. It's always been my dream to play Super Rugby, so if I get that chance I'll give it my best.

"I know if I'm ready, Dan will put me in. I don't really get nervous anymore, I've always had self belief. I'm just excited about whatever this year brings."

So there's plenty of reasons to be excited, even if it is hard to escape the Lealiifano-sized shadow.

The challenge, coach Dan McKellar says, is proceeding with caution.

"I've seen it happen so many times, good young [flyhalves] thrown in too early or before they're ready," McKellar said. "They end up playing somewhere overseas.

"But it's about care for the player. When I do expose them, they'll be ready.

"In saying that, every opportunity you've got to empower them to take ownership of the group, you've got to give it to them. Because it's their team."