![Corey Toole starred for the Australian sevens team last year. Picture by Lachlan Lawsone (Brumbies Media) Corey Toole starred for the Australian sevens team last year. Picture by Lachlan Lawsone (Brumbies Media)](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/j2iwCiKfwhVWJky39Vsdpt/95c5e88e-8cce-4192-8141-1e493bacc2e1.JPG/r0_532_8256_5192_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Corey Toole has lit up rugby fields from Cape Town to Los Angeles and old London town, but no matter how far he's roamed he still calls Wagga home.
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Which is why a humble field in the heart of the Riverina looms as the perfect opportunity for the ACT Brumbies' fastest player to announce himself as a Super Rugby weapon.
Toole has spent the past two years dazzling in the bright lights at picturesque sevens destinations around the world, but the journey to what he hopes will be a Brumbies jersey and then - maybe - a Wallabies jersey starts in his old backyard.
The Brumbies have locked in pre-season games against the NSW Waratahs in Griffith on February 4 and the Melbourne Rebels in Wagga on February 11 as coach Stephen Larkham searches for round-one selection answers.
For Toole it's a chance to impress Larkham and show his old teammates how far he's come since winning a Wagga first grade premiership in 2018 before moving to Canberra.
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The move paid off after he was invited into Brumbies training and then starring for the Australian sevens side before deciding he wanted to give Super Rugby a crack.
But for Toole that means adding extra kilograms to his frame to ensure he can handle the physicality of the transition.
"It makes it a bit more special [getting to play in Wagga]," Toole said.
"I'm looking forward to it, hopefully there's a few more supporters for me but there's no extra pressure. The last time we played we won a grand final so hopefully there's a bit more success there.
"It's massive to get back there to hopefully inspire some kids to transition to rugby and move to Canberra when they finish school like I did.
"For me it's about getting used to the contact sessions, it's a bit different with bigger boys who might be 30 kilos heavier than me so I've got to be smarter with my tackle technique."
The Brumbies will ramp up training next week when more than a dozen of the club's Wallabies stars return to Canberra for their first session of the year.
It leaves them just three weeks to prepare for the first trial game and seven weeks for the first game of the regular season.
![Corey Toole is a chasing Brumbies selection for round one on February 24. Picture by Lachlan Lawson/Brumbies Media Corey Toole is a chasing Brumbies selection for round one on February 24. Picture by Lachlan Lawson/Brumbies Media](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/j2iwCiKfwhVWJky39Vsdpt/05c45882-2cd4-4617-be77-267ba8f14074.JPG/r0_550_8256_5210_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
It's unlikely Wallabies players will feature in the first trial against the Waratahs and only a handful of stars will get game time in the clash against the Rebels as Rugby Australia manages player workloads in a World Cup year.
That's good news for players like Toole, Declan Meredith, Jack Debreczeni and Ben O'Donnell, who are trying to break into a Wallabies-laden side.
Toole, Meredith and O'Donnell are competing for back three spots alongside the likes of Tom Wright, Jesse Mogg and Andy Muirhead.
"[Larkham has said] just to know your role in the team and back yourself if there's an opportunity. Take it, and don't look back," Toole said.
"There are a lot of experienced boys, but that's good. You can learn off them and they can teach you things you didn't know.
"Training will go up another notch [when the Wallabies come back] and that'll push the whole team together as one."
BRUMBIES' PRE-SEASON
February 4: Brumbies v Waratahs at Griffith, 4.30pm
February 11: Brumbies v Rebels at Wagga, 6.30pm
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