Fisher is preparing for a Canberra farewell as the Brumbies' host the Waikato Chiefs in a Super Rugby qualifying final on Saturday night.

It will be Fisher's last game in the capital before he moves to England to take control of Gloucester.

But the 56-year-old said the timing was right for his Brumbies exit, adding he hopes to continue coaching for another decade and admitting he would struggle to coach a rival Australian franchise.

"Wayne Bennett's about to sign a new deal [in the NRL] and he's in his 60s, Sir Graham Henry is at the Auckland Blues and he has to be getting up there," Fisher grinned.

"There's no reason why I haven't got another seven, eight or nine years in the game.

"It's always sad to leave home, but the opportunity is right. Coaching against the Brumbies is not an aspiration of mine, but you don't know what opportunities come knocking."

The Brumbies will farewell 17 players and staff when their Super Rugby campaign finishes, including Fisher, captain Ben Mowen and veteran Clyde Rathbone.

The Brumbies-Chiefs contest is a re-match of last season's grand final and a chance for the Brumbies to ease the pain of being over-run by the Chiefs in the last 20 minutes of the title race.

The winner will take on the minor premier NSW Waratahs in Sydney next week if the Durban Sharks beat the Otago Highlanders in South Africa.

"I don't think there's any flying under the radar in finals games," Fisher said. "We've got more experience this year ... it's a relief to be there but we know we're good enough to go all the way in the competition.

"To be alive in a home final, it's tremendously satisfying at this stage.''

Fisher will leave Canberra almost immediately after the Brumbies' campaign ends and he hopes to delay his departure for at least another three weeks and leave after winning the championship.

"I never thought I would be back at the Brumbies [after I left in 2008]. The nature of coaching is that you love what you're doing and where you are, but eventually your time is up," Fisher said.

''I' excited that we're in the finals, I'm sad that I'm leaving but you've got to go and I'm going to a great opportunity. And I'm leaving with a sense of pride with what we've achieved and knowing the place is healthy."

The Waratahs are the raging hot favourites to win the championship after finishing the regular season at the top of the ladder.

ARU chief executive Bill Pulver declared at the start of the year that he was expecting big things from the star-laden NSW side. But Fisher said Pulver's praise of the Waratahs added to the Brumbies' motivation.

"It certainly makes you hungry to be successful, it adds to your desire for your team to do the absolute best they can," Fisher said.

"We might joke about [Pulver's comments] every now and then, there's a bit of banter between the coaching staff. It's not a driver of performance though."

The Brumbies started Super Rugby in 1996 as the poor cousin of NSW, with a team of rejects thrown together to start the ACT club. But Brumbies lock Scott Fardy said the players weren't taking on a siege mentality.

"We haven't looked past the Chiefs ... There's no siege mentality that comes into it, if you prepare as well as you can, you'll come out and have a good performance. That's what we try to do every week," Fardy said.