OPINION: The All Blacks are set to unleash plenty of bolters on the end-of-year tour with two non-Test matches on the cards against the Barbarians and a yet-to-be-named French side.
Coach Steve Hansen gave the likes of Jordie and Scott Barrett, Rieko Ioane and Vaea Fifita their first taste of the All Blacks environment last year, so who should get a call-up in 2017?
Mitchell Drummond - Crusaders halfback
With Tawera Kerr-Barlow taking off at the end of the season, Mitchell Drummond deserves to be the next halfback in the All Blacks pecking order behind Aaron Smith, TJ Perenara and Augustine Pulu.
The 23 year-old Nelson-born number nine has all the right attributes to play at Test level: he's a big man for a halfback at 180 centimetres, has an extremely crisp pass, and is adept both as a starter and as an impact player off the bench.
Michael Fatialofa - Hurricanes lock
Lock is hardly a place that the All Blacks are struggling, with Sam Whitelock, Brodie Retallick, Scott Barrett, Luke Romano, Patrick Tuipulotu, Vaea Fifita and Dominic Bird all in the mix, but Michael Fatialofa is too good to ignore.
The 24 year-old Aucklander spent four seasons in Southland before bursting onto the scene for the Hurricanes last year where he was a massive part of the title-winning team, and has the work-rate and physical attributes to play at the next level.
Richie Mo'unga - Crusaders first-five
The All Blacks will need a third specialist first-five for the end-of-year tour as Aaron Cruden gets set to depart, and Richie Mo'unga should be that man.
The 22-year-old was in the same New Zealand under-20s team as Damien McKenzie and Anton Lienert-Brown in 2014. While he's taken a little bit longer to develop, he's shown for both the Crusaders and Canterbury that he can handle the big stage, and will only get better with the All Blacks - learning off Beauden Barrett and Lima Sopoaga.
Matt Proctor - Hurricanes centre
Another star of the Hurricanes championship-winning team, Matt Proctor's in the middle of a career-best season and is banging down the door to be in the All Blacks end-of-year tour squad.
The 24 year-old's into his fifth season of Super Rugby and the years of tutelage under Conrad Smith are starting to show with Proctor the most defensively sound centre in New Zealand right now, and also an extremely dangerous prospect on attack.
Shaun Stevenson - Chiefs winger
Fast, skilful and with plenty of room to grow, Shaun Stevenson is exactly the type of project that coach Steve Hansen and company would love to get their hands on.
The 20 year-old showed his class at fullback for the New Zealand under-20s last year, and if he can stay fit, the North Shore product would be a perfect candidate to be the next All Blacks apprentice, following in the footsteps of Ardie Savea and Jordie Barrett.
John Day is a rugby reporter for RadioLIVE
