Offering no guarantees, Wallabies coach Robbie Deans plans to continue alternating Matt Giteau and Berrick Barnes in the chief playmaking role on next month's grand slam tour of the UK and Ireland.

Deans shot down talk that Giteau was upset at the prospect of being shifted from five-eighth to inside centre after Australia's two midfield generals shared the flyhalf duties during the Wallabies' much-hyped internal trial at Sydney's Riverview College on Thursday.

Playing on the same side for the 70-minute hit-out, Giteau started at five-eighth before frequently switching with Barnes, who looked more comfortable in the No.10 role, delivering the last pass or kick for three of the so-called Wombats' seven tries against the mostly second-string Possoms outfit.

Giteau and Barnes will be two of the first players picked in the 35-man touring squad named on Friday, but exactly where they line up in the four Tests against the home nations plus the Bledisloe Cup clash with New Zealand in Tokyo on October 31 remains up in the air.

Deans admitted to having addressed Giteau on the subject, but refused to divulge details of the discussions between coach and his reportedly unhappy camper - other than to suggest he remains undecided about who should call the shots on a more permanent basis.

"Well, you've seen them in both roles already so there's nothing new in that," Deans said.

"We talk about initiatives within the game. How long have you got? There's a lot of detail involved with that sort of stuff, but it's not a big deal.

"I know people like to make a big deal of those things (but) any initiatives that we take will probably not be discernible to the lay person.

"You've seen them in both roles, as you have done today. You'll see them in both roles in the future."

Conceding the Wallabies backline was not firing to its full capacity, Barnes said he and Giteau were "working with a few things at the moment and trying to sort out combinations - who's where, what works best for both players".

"So we'll keep tinkering with those things for the next coming weeks," he said.

"Hopefully we can get some fluency back in our game and obviously get the enjoyment back in the team."

The in-house trial - which attracted about 3,000 spectators - gave Deans plenty of food for thought before he sat down with selectors to choose a final touring squad.

With the stakes high, Deans was delighted with the commitment, intensity and discipline of his players as they slugged it out under virtual match conditions for a berth on the historic tour.

"While there was intensity in it and there was a lot of meaning in it because there was a lot of individual aspiration, the good thing was it didn't deteriorate into self interest," he said.

"Blokes still thought about their team and how they could serve their team and those are the traits that we're looking for."

The casualty list included Richard Brown and Matt Hodgson, who both suffered head cuts, fellow back-rower Stephen Hoiles (grade one hamstring strain) and hooker Stephen Moore (nose).

All four, though, were expected to be available for selection, unlike veteran lock Nathan Sharpe, who will undergo shoulder surgery next week, and young wing hopeful Nick Cummins, who has a "nasty" foot injury similar to that which kept James Horwill out for six months last year.

With Sharpe and Cummins out, only six players from the 43-man train-on squad will be omitted, but Deans said even they may earn a call-up in the next fortnight should anyone else go down injured.

Possible grand slam squad:

Backs - James O'Connor, Lachie Turner, Drew Mitchell, Peter Hynes, Digby Ioane, Rob Horne, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Stirling Mortlock, Ryan Cross, Berrick Barnes, Quade Cooper, Matt Giteau, Will Genia, Luke Burgess, Richard Kingi.

Forwards: Richard Brown, Wycliff Palu, David Pocock, George Smith, Phil Waugh, Rocky Elsom, Matt Hodgson, David Dennis, Mitchell Chapman, Dean Mumm, Mark Chisholm, James Horwill, Benn Robinson, Ben Alexander, Pek Cowan, Al Baxter, Matt Dunning, Stephen Moore, Tatafu Polota-Nau, Damien Fitzpatrick.

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