Wallabies back Berrick Barnes is hoping it really is a case of third time lucky as he prepares to embark on Australia's upcoming Spring Tour.

While at least five members of the current 40-man training camp will be cut from the tour squad to be announced on Thursday, Barnes knows it's one thing being selected and another thing actually playing on tour.

Two years ago, he suffered a tour-ending posterior cruciate ligament knee injury in a match against Italy.

In 2009 he never made it to the United Kingdom part of the tour following a severe ankle sprain a couple of days before the opening match of the tour against New Zealand in Hong Kong.

That brought about another premature end to his spring tour campaign for which he had been appointed vice-captain.

Outside of his first four matches for the Wallabies, all of which were at the 2007 World Cup in France, Barnes has played only one other game in Europe, the ill-fated clash with Italy in Padova in November 2008 when he lasted less than 15 minutes.

"Hopefully it's third time lucky, I'd just like to try and make it to England, that would be a start," Barnes joked on Wednesday.

Just who will accompany him on the tour will be revealed on Thursday.

A number of forwards are likely to be pruned from the squad, with at least one prop and one lock dropping out.

Among the props, Sekope Kepu will be hoping for a third straight spring tour, though apart from Ben Alexander, all the others played Test rugby while Kepu was sidelined with a torn calf.

The battle for second row spots could depend on whether coach Robbie Deans and his co-selectors Jim Williams and David Nucifora are looking for versatility.

The likes of Dean Mumm, Mitchell Chapman and Dave Dennis can all play second or back row, while the uncapped trio of Van Humphries, Pat O'Connor and Kane Douglas are all specialist locks.

Lock Mark Chisholm is still some slight chance of making the tour, but hooker Tatafu Polota-Nau and centre Will Chambers are other players whose recuperation may not be advanced enough for them to be considered.

Of the other forwards, Force hooker Nathan Charles is the only uncapped member of the four players named in that position.

Most of the inside back positions look fairly clear cut, but youngsters Rod Davies and Brackin Karauria-Henry could be at risk of missing out.

The selectors are expected to go outside the training squad to name Australian Seven's representative Lachie Turner.

The Waratahs speedster may be the only member of the Commonwealth Games silver medal-winning squad to get a spring tour call up, though Pat McCutcheon, Nick Phipps and Luke Morahan loom as potential bolters.

Fitness apart, Barnes is hoping another hoodoo, Australia's recent shocking run against New Zealand, ends on tour.

The Wallabies have lost their last 10 games to New Zealand and face the world No.1-ranked All Blacks in their tour opener in Hong Kong on October 30.

"Hong Kong would be a nice place to do it and (it would) give us some confidence," Barnes said

"We've been losing games of late, we can't seem to get over the line against them. We've done a lot of work at training on how we close games out and hopefully that will come to fruition."

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