Scotland are hoping to inject some further NRL talent into their squad for the upcoming Four Nations tournament in England with Cowboys fullback Lachlan Coote and Dragons centre Euan Aitken in their sights.
To be captained again by Huddersfield half Danny Brough, Scotland will be participating in their first Four Nations tournament starting on October 28 having made it to the quarter-final stage of the 2013 Rugby League World Cup before being knocked out by New Zealand.
The Bravehearts will be given little hope of causing a boilover against either Australia, England or New Zealand but would be bolstered significantly by the inclusion of the likes of Aitken, Coote and former Wests Tigers prop Keith Galloway.
The Scotland squad for the Four Nations will be announced in the coming days.
Luke Douglas, Kane Linnett and Peter Wallace all represented Scotland at the 2013 World Cup and the Titans prop said the addition of further NRL experience would help the team significantly.
"Euan Aitken is a proud Scotsman – his dad moved over [to Australia] – and he really gets it," Douglas told NRL.com.
"[Wallace] had an outstanding year and could slot straight into hooker but it was a tough season for him with pretty much a full year in the middle so hopefully his body is all right and he can get there and help out.
"Obviously there are a few guys who have retired since then and our hooker was Ian Henderson who had that horrific injury playing for the Roosters this year but we're definitely going to be competitive.
"It's going to be tough against the three big teams but we'll go in as the underdog and hopefully they take us a bit lightly and we can turn it on and give them a bit of a shock."
Scotland's first assignment of the 2016 Four Nations is against the Kangaroos before a historic first meeting with England in the double-header in Coventry on November 5.
Having been given a taste of representing Scotland in games against Tonga, Italy, USA and New Zealand three years ago, Douglas knows what a clash against England will represent for the Scottish players.
"We play the Poms in our second game as part of the double-header at Coventry and it's going to be live on the BBC which is pretty cool," said Douglas, who will join St Helens on a three-year deal starting in 2017.
"I haven't played England before but the Flower of Scotland, the song that we sing before the game, is all about the Poms trying to come and take their land and the Scots fought back and sent them home and I love all that sort of history and stuff.
"I know there'll be a bit of feeling in the game. Guys like Danny Brough a couple of years back were shafted from the Pommy side and he ended up getting the [Super League] Man of Steel."
Brough was the standout for the Scots as they accounted for Tonga and USA and had a 30-all draw with Italy in the pool games of the 2013 World Cup.
The hero who helped to keep Huddersfield from Super League relegation with a match-winning field goal against Hull KR that sent Rovers to the Million Pound Game, Brough was player of the tournament at the 2014 European Cup that earned Scotland passage to the Four Nations.
Selected for England for one International Origin match in 2012, Brough has 20 caps for Scotland and will become the most capped Braveheart of all time should he play at least two games during the Four Nations.
"I watch a little bit of the Super League and I could see that he was a gun and previous to that year I knew he was a great player," Douglas said of playing alongside Brough in 2013.
"He'll be our captain again, hopefully he's fighting fit."
