Brumbies hooker John Ulugia would welcome the return of Jeremy Paul or any other senior rake to the club in 2009, even it if placed in jeopardy his place in the team.

Coach Laurie Fisher has named Ulugia as the Brumbies starting hooker to take on the Pretoria Bulls at Loftus on Saturday.

It will be the 21-year-old's third run-on performance this season.But if the club recruits a Paul or Stephen Moore or even Adam Freier to the club next year, Ulugia's role as starting hooker or even that of a reserve rake would be limited.Huia Edmonds, who remains on contract for another season, is regarded as a better prospect than Ulugia and would more often than not earn selection before him.

The Brumbies will lose Saia Faingaa to the Queensland Reds next year, leaving them desperate for a third rake at the club.

They have offered Moore a two-year deal but he is yet to finalise his future as he is also considering an offer from the Western Force.

Knowing they may have to find someone else, the Brumbies have had preliminary discussions with Paul about a possible return from England.

Ulugia, who did his apprenticeshipunder Paul for two years, said the club would benefit from the addition of another senior player to join he and Edmonds.

"My main focus this week and next is to show I'm capable of playing a starting role with this team but it would definitely be worthwhile someone else coming in as well," he said.

"It would help my game and Huia's game, having someone senior and more experienced to learn from, and it would also present the challenge of having to beat someone else to get into the team.

"If that's Ming, that would be great, if it's someone else, that would be good too, or if they didn't get anyone else and it was Huia and me and Hegs [Brumbies Academy player Anthony Hegarty] then that would be good too."

Ulugia has been with the Brumbies for three seasons while Edmonds has seven years of senior rugby experience behind him.

But despite their combined experience, Fisher remained unconvinced it was enough to be able to form a successful partnership in 2009.

"There's value in bringing in a more senior and more experienced hooker," he said.

"Huia has some good years racked up at Super rugby level and Luge is a player of the future but they're both still relatively young and have a lot of learning to do."

The Brumbies have struggled to settle on a first-choice hooker this year.