A high turnover of players with some of the club's biggest names heading out the door, a host of youngsters trying to prove themselves, and no decision on a captain until close to kickoff.

Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham likened his side's fast-approaching Super Rugby campaign to that of the club's 2012 season.

The Brumbies would go on to finish second in the Australian conference that season, but that's as far as the similarities go for Larkham - he is making sure his side aren't looking that far ahead.

The Brumbies are without a captain and Larkham says the side will likely use a number of "interim captains" during the pre-season trials before making a decision leading into round one against the Crusaders on February 25.

"For me it's short steps... Making sure we're not thinking too far ahead so I'm certainly not thinking about after the season when we're just about to start it," Larkham said.

"We've had 13 new players come into the program this year. Very similar [to 2012] in that respect, I think it was a young team and we had a new captain come in for that period as well.

"There's a lot of similarities... Obviously there's some senior players that have gone, but we've maintained the bulk of the squad and I think those guys have learnt lessons over the last four years, five years, that they will carry through to these guys coming through."

Larkham has been tipped to come out of retirement for the pre-season Brisbane 10s but remains undecided, with confirmation expected to come next week on which ex-player the Brumbies will use at the tournament.

Should the veteran of 102 Wallabies caps elect to play in the tournament next month he could provide new recruit Kyle Godwin with a massive learning experience.

Godwin prefers to play at inside centre and is expected to play a huge role for the Brumbies this year as the club looks to fill the void left by Matt Toomua (England), Christian Lealiifano (illness), and Robbie Coleman (Western Force).

Larkham says Godwin's presence in what could be a largely inexperienced Brumbies backline will be "massive".

"It's clearly a different team to last year, particularly without Christian," Larkham said.

"I think what you notice with Kyle is... he was over there with us at the Wallabies and then had a period of time off through December but hit the ground running.

"His skills were sharp, he's fit, his knowledge is top notch and you can see that he is ready to play Super Rugby in this team."

Larkham returned to his desk for the first time in "about five months" on Monday after taking a break following the Wallabies' Spring Tour.

Godwin earned his maiden Wallabies cap on the same tour and says while they haven't spent much time together in the capital, his time with Larkham in the Australian set-up was "fantastic".

Zimbabwean-born Godwin has fond memories of playing at Canberra Stadium and is looking forward to "being on the other side" in tough battles against the hosts.

The 24-year-old has big shoes to fill but is relishing the prospect of playing under the eye of one of the game's greatest players in Larkham.

"It was definitely a drawcard for me to come to the Brumbies, to learn off Bernie [Larkham]," Godwin said.

"He played in my position, he was one of the greatest during his time, if not the greatest during his time and to learn off him is just unbelievable and hopefully that's only going to improve my game."