The final round of Shield matches begins on Monday and Victoria have a chance to qualify for a third straight final as they host Western Australia at the Junction Oval in Melbourne.

Boland looks likely to be released after the toss on Friday to return home to prepare to face Western Australia.

"There was talk of maybe sending Scotty back for Victoria but holding Nes back from Queensland just to annoy Marnus [Labuschagne] and Usman [Khawaja]," Cummins said. "I did hear the back end of that conversation the other day."

It has been a frustrating summer for Boland. He was the star of the World Test Championship final for Australia in June last year and kept Mitchell Starc out of the first Ashes Test at Edgbaston. But England attacked him in the two Tests he played in the Ashes and Australia returned to their big three for three for the final two Tests.

"I think I said at the start of the summer I'd be surprised we played all seven just because it's rare that something doesn't pop up," Cummins said. "But thankfully we've all kind of managed all the little niggles that pop up pretty well. I think even the schedule this summer seems to be just when you need a week's break, there was a week's break in between Test matches.

"Obviously it's been a long summer but we all still feel like we've got a fair bit of freshness about us. We're not limping over the line. I still feel like we're in a great position. I wouldn't have thought we'd be here a couple of months ago."

While Australia are settled, there is a wariness heading into the second Test. In 2022 against Sri Lanka, and just last month at home against the West Indies, Australia gave up 1-0 leads with poor performances in the second match of each series.

"I think it's just decision-making around plans, and having really clear plans," Cummins said. "It doesn't mean you need to have 12 shot options. It might only be two or three. But you're building innings around that. I think Greeny was a great example. For all his big shots last week, he also showed a lot of restraint at times.

"So just managing that tempo, having a really clear game plan and just living and dying by that. There have been a lot of conversations. A lot of guys working in the nets just to have a think about that."