The Brumbies defied the odds to secure a Super Rugby finals berth, but fell at a quarter-final hurdle when they lost to the Wellington Hurricanes 35-16 on Friday night.

The loss ended Larkham's three-year tenure as head coach as he prepares to step into a full-time role with the Wallabies from next month.

Larkham, a Brumbies foundation player, will be replaced by Dan McKellar next year, while they will also lose players Tomas Cubelli, Scott Fardy, Jarrad Butler, Jordan Smiler, Chris Alcock and Tom Staniforth.

There are still some spots available on the roster as the Brumbies wait for the ARU to finalise a decision on whether it will axe the Western Force or Melbourne Rebels, and some players are yet to finalise their respective futures.

They will, however, be bolstered by the return of David Pocock after his 12-month sabbatical from Australian rugby and Christian Lealiifano is expected to be available for the 2018 season after making comeback against the Hurricanes.

The Brumbies were written off by almost everyone before the season started after losing star power at the end of last year.

"When you look at the number of guys that got their first Brumbies cap this year and where the team's come from ... the fact we were written off at the beginning of the year, we've certainly achieved a few things this year," Larkham said.

"We've put ourselves in a really strong position for next year, there's no doubt about that. Some guys are moving on from the squad, but we'll get some new faces in.

"And we'll learn. It's a young squad and we'll learn from this experience."

When asked about Larkham's impact, Brumbies captain Sam Carter said: "Half of [Canberra Stadium] is named after him, it's a pretty good legacy.

"Bernie has been here the whole time I have and he's been massive for my development. The organisation has been part of his whole life, I don't know what he'll do when he leaves.

"I've got nothing but praise for Bernie and what he's done for this organisation. What we achieved this season, although we lost, was far more than we set out to achieve and that's all done to [Larkham]."

Larkham said the enormity of his departure was yet to sink in as he digested the Brumbies' second-half fade against the Hurricanes.

The Brumbies led by one point at half-time and it could have been more had referee Glen Jackson awarded a penalty try for the Hurricanes deliberately pulling down a rolling maul on the try line.

The Hurricanes managed to stay in the game in the first 40 minutes, with winger Wes Goosen scoring a try off the back of a long lineout despite appearing to be offside and Jordie Barrett scoring a fluke try, which bounced into the Brumbies' ingoal off one of his teammates' heads.

The defending champion Hurricanes needed only a small invitation to dominate the second half and eventually secured a 19-point win.

"It's disappointing for us because we had a chance to something special [against the Hurricanes]," Carter said.

"We were going the right way about it in the first half, but we let ourselves down in the second half. That's disappointing and that counts as a disappointing season for us. We'll have to rebuild and look at what we've got next season."

Larkham is tipped by many to be the successor to Wallabies coach Michael Chieka after the 2019 World Cup.

He will continue to be based in Canberra and work with the Brumbies in a consultant-style role, but there will be somewhat a changing of the guard.

McKellar will be joined by assistants Laurie Fisher and Peter Ryan, while Peter Hewat looms as the man to fill Larkham's shoes as attack coach.