Prodigal son Matt Giteau is confident the Brumbies can build on a solid start to the Super 14 season in the coming weeks, as he prepares for his own homecoming party at Canberra Stadium.
Giteau, who returns to Canberra Stadium after three seasons with the Western Force, is confident the star-studded Brumbies are capable of beginning a rapid ascent up the ladder on Friday night when they take on the Lions.
The seventh-placed Brumbies play five of their next six games at home and are well-placed after managing two wins on a grueling three-match tour of Perth and South Africa - including last week's hard-fought triumph over the highly-fancied Stormers.
"I think it will be very special," Giteau said of the team's first home match of the season.
"There's a few guys I think playing their first game for (the Brumbies) in Canberra so that'll be exciting."
"And for me personally to come back and play in front of the Canberra crowd will be even more special."
"We've got a few home games now so that's pretty exciting for me personally and I think for the side as well."
"Obviously two wins from three on our tour, that's pretty positive for us so hopefully we can consolidate on that start and get a few wins at home."
Despite his confidence, the Brumbies playmaker remains wary of the winless Lions led by old foe Carlos Spencer.
And while the former All Black flyhalf has been slammed by South African critics over his performances in the early rounds, Giteau says the 34-year-old cannot be underestimated.
"I still think he's creative as ever, his kicking game is very threatening and in attack he can pretty much do anything still, so I still think he's a dangerous player," Giteau said.
"He is very creative, threatens the line and obviously he's very handy, he's got a few kicks and things like that we need to be aware of."
Meanwhile, Brumbies coach Andy Friend confirmed he will loosen the reins this week after implementing a rigid game plan against the Stormers.
"We received 25 kicks in the Stormers game and we only ran back two of those for a reason," Friend said.
"This week's going to be slightly different, we probably won't receive anywhere near that number of kicks and if we do get the ball at the back of the field there's every chance we'll be looking to run it."
Although pleased with his side's performance last start, Friend admits discipline remains an issue after his men conceded a whopping 15 penalties in Round 3.
"I think until there's clarity in what's allowed at the breakdown we need to just keep our hands off the football, which we did pretty much at the weekend," he said.
"We weren't getting penalised overly at the breakdown."
"We had a couple on our ball where we got penalised for coming in the side which I thought was a little bit harsh, and there were a couple still at scrum time which we need to sort out and then a few for obstructing people off the ball."
"So there's a few things we need to tidy up but breakdown-wise we'll keep it pretty similar."