Veteran prop James Slipper is set to resume the Wallabies captaincy from Liam Wright for the second Test against Wales on Saturday.
Australia coach Joe Schmidt will name and explain his team in Melbourne on Thursday but Stan Sport's Michael Atkinson said the expectation was that Wright – who led the Wallabies to a 25-16 victory in his first Test in charge – would not feature in the 23.
Brumbies star Charlie Cale, who made his debut off the bench in Sydney, was expected to come into the loose forward trio for his first Test start with Slipper taking the leadership reins.
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"Which I think is a good move from Joe," Atkinson said on Nine's Inside Line podcast on Wednesday.
"I know there was a lot of eyebrows raised when they handed the captaincy to Liam Wright, because people didn't think he'd be in the 15, people didn't think he'd be in the 23. How long are you giving that prestigious role to someone else who's maybe just going to hold it for a week and then you rotate again?
"Which looks like it's happened, but injury forced, we're assuming. I like the fact that he's gone back to a guy who has done it before."
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Slipper co-captained the Wallabies with Michael Hooper last year before then coach Eddie Jones moved in a different direction.
Wright was substituted early in the second half at Allianz Stadium with substitute prop Allan Alaalatoa taking over as captain.
Schmidt spoke to SEN on Wednesday about the decision to appoint Wright as captain but did not hint at any injury setback.
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"It was very much a coordinated coaches decision," Schmidt said.
"Laurie Fisher has been a real bonus in our coaching group. He knows a lot of the players really well.
"Liam Wright, he's a bit of a lineout nerd. He knows his lineout inside out, so he was going to be calling the lineout anyway, or at least parts of it, so to extend that leadership to other parts of the game…
"When you've got other players who are experienced in the leadership group who are out there with them, it was a reasonably well accepted decision from the whole coaching group, and certainly well received by the players."
Schmidt reiterated that Wright's captaincy was not necessarily a long term appointment.
"To be determined because… we're looking under the hood.
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"We're just seeing how we best put a team together and what the leadership looks like of that team and how we play. And I guess we'll find out a lot in this three match series.
"So one down, two to go. And Melbourne on Saturday night will give us another indication of some of the leadership that we've noticed in the first Test, flowing through into the second Test and beyond."
Wright became the seventh Wallabies captain in 12 months after Jones shuffled through six leaders last year.
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