New baby faces everywhere, some struggling to squeeze into brand new training shirts, pulled excitedly out of orientation day "showbags".

A new coach Andy Friend spelling out an acrostic of the Brumbies' on-field ideals ('B' is for ball winning, 'R' is for reaction, 'U' is for uncompromising defence, and so on) and showing a highlights package of the style he wants to see next year.

A new star forward, Queenslander Stephen Moore, glad he brought his bags packed for Europe and so had a jumper for suddenly cold Canberra.

And moving among them familiar faces, confidence-inspiring faces.

Wallabies and Brumbies captain Stirling Mortlock. His deputy George Smith. The "forgotten man", Clyde Rathbone, whose Test career has been derailed by injuries and who knows he is playing for his career next season.

Introductions, lunch together, a kick of a soccer ball and the bonds of a team already begin to form.

Yesterday marked day one of what the ACT rugby organisation from chief executive down to rookie player desperately hopes is a new era of success.

The majority of the playing squad will begin crafting it from next Monday, when pre-season training begins in a freshened-up gymnasium and on a field finally fenced in to keep out hoons in their cars.

However the team's relatively modest Wallabies touring contingent Smith, Mortlock, Moore, Mark Chisholm, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Peter Kimlin and Ben Alexander won't be seen again until after what will be a bruising spring trip to Europe via Hong Kong.

"There's no doubt there's a sense this is a new era," Mortlock said.

"Having a new head coach and a whole new coaching staff it's very hard not to. There's an air of excitement around the guys today and the boys are looking forward to ripping into work."

On his return from the Wallabies' six-match tour, Mortlock will discuss with Friend, among other things, his Super 14 captaincy and whether he should continue on in the role.

Mortlock took over from George Gregan in 2004, mainly because Gregan found leading a province and a national team too demanding.

The veteran of 10 seasons in Canberra, Mortlock said he would do what was best for the team, whether it was staying on as skipper or letting someone else grow into the role.

"I love coming down to Canberra and being part of this group ... it's a massive honour in being captain," Mortlock said.

"But having said that there is a time and a place for getting new blood in and new movement, so we'll see how things pan out later on."

A rugged-up Moore, the club's most prized off-season recruit, has been talking with his new teammates about where in Canberra to live when he returns from Europe. Kingston seems an obvious choice.

Robust, skilful and mobile, Moore should almost certainly emerge as a starting player from a Brumbies forwards mix suddenly made more intriguing by the rise of prop Alexander and lock-flanker Kimlin.

Not that the 25-year-old expects a saloon ride into the Brumbies No2, which has begged for a permanent custodian since Jeremy Paul retired.

"The fact I'm playing for Australia has no bearing on what happens here," Moore said.

"I have to prove myself to the players and all the people around the organisation and I'm going to work hard when I get down here to do that both on and off the field."

That sort of talk would be music to Friend's ears.

A former ACT representative player who has returned home via the London Harlequins, Friend is keen to put his own stamp on the team quickly and in turn have it challenge for a third Super title in 2009.

One of the first things he did yesterday was show a seven-minute compilation film of the new Brumbies style he and his assistants want to impose. It was pieced together from the 2008 season, in which the under-manned Brumbies finished ninth under Laurie Fisher.

"The message was 'listen boys, you can do it, we've seen you do it'. We did have to search through a few videos to find it," Friend said.

So the pre-season to 2009 has begun. Lots of new people, lots of optimism, lots of work to do.

In Friend's words: "It's all there as a canvas for us to to work on and we're all looking forward to putting some blotches on it."