The Bulls, seeking to go back to back, will be without opener Matthew Renshaw, batsman Marnus Labuschagne, allrounder Michael Neser and paceman Brendan Doggett when they start their campaign against Tasmania in Brisbane on Tuesday.

The quartet earned selection in the national Test squad, alongside Queensland captain Usman Khawaja, because of their impressive Shield form in 2017-18.

The carrot of Test selection has rarely been so tangible for teammates.

"A big chunk of our squad are a similar sort of age and have played a lot of cricket together. Now they're seeing good mates progress to higher honours," Bulls coach Wade Seccombe said.

"Being the competitive bunch they are, I think that adds a bit more fuel to their fire.

"They realise they're possibly not that far away. If they string together a few solid performances then they'll start to get talked about as well.

"As a group, we know we can't rely on what we did last season. We have to be bigger and better."

Joe Burns and Mitch Swepson, who will all be in action against Tasmania, represented Australia earlier this year and could easily have been drafted into the Test squad.

Seccombe was full of praise for how Burns, who was parachuted into the Test XI in Johannesburg after the Cape Town scandal, and Swepson, who toured India with Australia A this year, handled being overlooked.

"They've been really good ... when you bring some new guys into the group, they learn off those leaders," he said.

Seccombe has swapped text messages with Renshaw, who was surprisingly overlooked for the first Test in Dubai and may return home earlier than expected so he can play the second Shield round.

"It'd be wrong for me to comment on his behalf but what I do know about him is he is a resilient man and always wanting to improve," he said.

"We're looking forward to having him back."

Australian Associated Press