Perhaps there will be a performance or two that catches the eye. Tom Banks and Taniela Tupou have the potential to produce something explosive. But for those dwelling on the fringes there is an inescapable truth.

The best place to be right now is inside Michael Cheika's squad, learning the patterns and making the right impressions.

For Cooper, having to rely on 80 minutes for a thrown-together Barbarians side as a platform to impress the Wallabies is a signal that all is not rosy.

His issue is one that gets everyone eventually. Time. Already Duncan Paia'aua is being talked about as the Wallabies No.10 for that Barbarians game. In the NRC, young Hamish Stewart is doing his thing for Queensland Country under Brad Thorn. They are the future.

It is cruel for Cooper because it seems like only yesterday that he represented the infinite possibilities of youth. He threw backhand passes, ruffled opponents' hair and took on Richie McCaw - and by extension New Zealand - because he gave little thought for the consequences.

Then he blew a knee in the 2011 World Cup third-place play-off against Wales. It remains the single-most important moment of his career. Looking back we can see now that was the moment the harshness of professional sport tackled Cooper.

It set him upon his first bout of lengthy rehabilitation - a process he would sadly become familiar with - and took some spring from his legs.

Fast forward six up-and-down years later and Cooper found himself in Apia, playing for the Reds against the Blues.

All around him young Reds were making an impression but Cooper was unable to drive them home from the No.10 position even though they had supplied the platform.

The heady days of the 2011 Super Rugby campaign seemed like a lifetime ago.

Exclusion from the Wallabies this year was therefore understandable but it still had a brutal edge. For Cooper to hear that his star had fallen so quickly that Reece Hodge was considered the third best option at No.10 must have been a blow.

Cooper had performed no worse than others during the June series. In fact, he produced a sharp little cameo against the Scots. But Cheika has been particularly receptive to rebuilding the squad this year.

His gut told him Scott Higginbotham was not his long-term No.8. He relented and had another peek but the underwhelming outcome would have reinforced his belief in instinct. The outlook is not good for Cooper if Cheika has applied the same process to Cooper.

Cooper must now illustrate his worth. Playing outside the muscular Kiwi halfback Augustine Pulu for the Barbarians may actually create some space for him to show something, but where does he fit in for the Wallabies?

If Bernard Foley is unquestionably the first-choice No.10 and Kurtley Beale is his designated back-up Cheika might be trying to develop a player as his third option. That is why Paia'aua and Stewart and players such as Mack Mason and Melbourne's Jack McGregor have such appeal.

In some ways it is much easier to mould a youngster than try to coax the best years out of an older player. That is the model Cheika has followed with Jack Dempsey and Izack Rodda and the dividends have been obvious.

It leaves Cooper positioned as the Australian equivalent of Danny Cipriani. No matter how many "virtual trials" and "England auditions" Cipriani has played in recent years, he has not cracked the England squad. Instead, Eddie Jones has gone to 18-year-old wunderkind Marcus Smith.

Cipriani is 29. Cooper is 29. They are hardly dinosaurs but it terms of their Test cap clocks, the time is heading towards midnight.