Both champion halves in their playing days, Stuart and Brumbies coach Stephen Larkham have identified the importance of resurrecting club culture as they take the helm as head coaches.

The champion duo have been a part of the biggest moments in Canberra's sporting history.

Stuart won three premierships with the Raiders, while Larkham guided the Brumbies to two Super Rugby titles.

But coaching presents a new challenge and, meeting for the first time at Canberra Stadium, Stuart and Larkham open up on their plans for 2014, rebuilding culture, their memories of the golden era and the pressure.

You grew up in Canberra, won premierships with Canberra teams, now you're coaching them. How does that feel?

I was comfortable from day one ... I believe that when you have so much history with a club, you get that feeling. We were a family at the Raiders and we still are today. That's the culture we had.

When we started at the Brumbies we were the rejects [from other states]. We lived on the field and at training, we were a family. I've been part of the Brumbies since 1996. That's almost half of my life, this really is my family.

The Raiders and Brumbies had vastly different seasons this year. The Raiders finished 13th while the Brumbies lost the Super Rugby final. What are expectations for 2014?

I'd love to make the finals, that's obvious and every coach and team should have that drive. We want to teach a group of players how to prepare professionally and be consistently competitive.

It's slightly different for us. This group has seen the lows of the Brumbies and seen how to build it back up. For us, it's about taking the next step. We want to make the finals. We want to finish in the top two. Those are the goals and ideally we'll go one better than last season.

There has been culture issues at both clubs in recent years. The Brumbies had a disaster in 2011, the Raiders sacked stars Josh Dugan and Blake Ferguson this year. How do you deal with that?

It starts with club culture. You have to get rid of people who think about themselves. You can't get team results with greedy people. We've just got rid of that element and we need to move forward. You can't have dickheads in a football team. To see two fabulous, talented football players [Dugan and Ferguson] sitting on a roof, drinking alcohol in the morning ... it was a disgrace. It was the most embarrassing moment for me in terms of being an ex-Raider. Those boys got what they deserved. It should have happened earlier, that's the only mistake the club made.

We feel like we've got the right culture at the moment. Three years ago we had a group that came down here for a holiday or for money or whatever – the mix wasn't right. We pride ourselves at the Brumbies on having the right people. We're about winning with respect, no selfish players, no dickheads.

What has to change for both teams to improve?

Our ability to work under fatigue. If we're not fitter we can't improve at all. We'll work hard in areas to improve our fitness. If we do that, we'll improve the statistics we need to change. When you're under fatigue, any type of action is a habit. We have to accept those habits at training.

We're fairly similar. We'll tinker with little things, but first and foremost it's about making sure we're fit enough. Making decisions under fatigue is crucial in rugby union or rugby league. We had a successful structure last year, we're not going to go too far away from it. We know it worked. We know the recipe for success and we just need to tinker to try to evolve into the No1 side in Super Rugby.

Can Canberra fans expect two dominant teams next year?

As coaches, we want to win as much as any Canberran or any supporter. We expect to be dominant. Canberra supporters expect it and that's what we're striving for.

That's what I expect, definitely

As past greats of your clubs, do you feel extra pressure as coaches?

No I don't. I put enough pressure on myself to win and be successful, that's whether it's a game of golf or coaching this football team. I want to be successful. I don't need any other pressure, that doesn't bother me because I know I do it for myself a bit.

I haven't. Being part of a team environment isn't too dissimilar to being a player. You're all one team, it's never one person holding all the expectation or pressure.

You both tend to coach from the sideline a lot, rather than up in a box. Is that the ex-players coming out in you?

I've got an assistant on the field in Dean Pay and one in the box in Matt Parish. For me, being on the sideline is a more realistic feel for what players are going through. I feel as though I can have a lot more communication and response to a player on the sideline. I let the players know I'm going to be on the sideline. Sometimes you get in a sterile box and I don't like that.

Game day is exciting now. The buzz of the crowd, the emotion, feeling the hits and seeing the fatigue levels up close. You can get on the field and see how they react. I think that combination of Laurie Fisher being in the box and me being down there [on the sideline], we see different perspectives.

There are big dates looming for you both. Steve, you and the Brumbies will face former coach Jake White when the Sharks come to Canberra next year, and Ricky, you'll take on your former club Parramatta. How do you feel about those matches?

It doesn't bother me one bit. It doesn't bother me whether it's Parramatta, Manly or Souths.

I think there will be a fair bit of attention, but it's just another game for us. We're just focused on that first game of the season, not when Jake will come back. Every game in Super Rugby is a final, there are no easy beats.

Standing at Canberra Stadium again, does it bring back memories?

I remember one game against Wests [for Mal Meninga's farewell game] where they couldn't fit the crowd in here and people were sitting behind the goal posts on the grass. When we played big games here, it was like a party. People would come in with great emotion and passion. We were excited about being involved in the dance. It was a buzz to drive here to the game.

We won championships here, there was a real buzz when you got to run out in front of a near full crowd. The Brumbies crowd was one of the most hostile in Super Rugby, teams hated coming here.

What excites you about next year?

There's an exciting feeling in the joint and that can only be generated by player actions. There's been a lot of changes and training is quite difficult. But it pleases me as a coach to know the effort is there.

We've got a good group of players at the moment that have been in the program for the last two years. They've seen the lows and then we got to the final last season. Now we'll change some elements of our game, change some attack and hopefully score a few more tries.