His side do not need any more motivation to take their game to another level, other than to down their second Kiwi side, but players fighting to either keep or reclaim their spot is sure to add fuel to the fire.

Two Test capped Wallabies - Tom Banks (cheekbone) and Allan Alaalatoa (neck) - and another tipped to don the jersey in July, Nick Frost (knee), are chances to return from injury against the Wellington Hurricanes.

If so, Banks will fight to reclaim his number 15 jersey, forcing his replacement Tom Wright back onto the wing to contend for his position back.

Skipper Alaalatoa will be chasing a prop start, and Frost will battle with returning lock Cadeyrn Neville, and rookie Tom Hooper.

The Brumbies will have all week to make their case to McKellar as to why he should choose them in his 23-man squad to face the Wellington Hurricanes on Sunday.

Winger Andy Muirhead sees the competition as a good thing for his team.

"We're quite lucky we've sort of got to this point in the season and ... a lot of guys are coming off those niggle injuries and coming back into the fold," he said.

"It gives Dan [McKellar] a bit of a headache but it's the good headaches you want; knowing that the boys are gonna be performing a little bit harder on the training paddock to try and get their position back or hold their position.

"So it's only going to do good things for us in terms of our training performances."

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Their 11-point Super Round win against the Otago Highlanders gave them their first taste of New Zealand rugby, but their first test are not the cream of the Kiwi-crop.

The Highlanders have lost both encounters with the Hurricanes this season. The first by seven points in round three, before lessening the blow to a one-point margin in their second meeting earlier this month.

Their closest marker in Australian rugby, the Queensland Reds, fell 13-points short on the weekend at the Wellington side's hand.

Despite being the only Australia side to record a win over the weekend, Muirhead said the squad did not feel as if they were carrying the country's Super Rugby hopes on their shoulders.

And after four games on the trot, they were looking forward to meeting the Hurricanes on their home turf at Canberra Stadium.

"If we follow what we think is going to be good for our game plan, and that's physicality, then we can try and nullify them as much as we can," he said.

"And hopefully win, but I'm sure we'll identify a few small key threats that they might bring but I think if we concentrate on what we can do ... the rest will look after itself.

"We just do what we can here on the training paddock and hopefully that comes onto the footy field on Sunday."

The second-placed side's winning performance in Melbourne did the job but it was not perfect.

A dropped ball on the try line in the opening minutes, some other missed opportunities to add points, and their defence on the line made it a closer game on the scoresheet.

Consistency across the whole contest will be a focus next week against the Hurricanes.

"We didn't have a great 80 minutes, I think we got a good 30 to 25 to start off with and then we went away from that, and what we knew was working," Muirhead said.

"I think the sign of a good team is knowing what works for you and being able to get back into that."

As will the physicality the Kiwi sides bring, with two of the Highlanders' tries in Melbourne scored through individual force in one-on-one defensive situations.

This is where the game will be won or lost come Sunday afternoon in Bruce.