Acting captain George Smith says the grieving Brumbies are desperate to end an "emotionally exhausting" fortnight with a moving Super 14 performance against the Stormers on Saturday night.

Smith admits the Brumbies have struggled to keep their minds on rugby since teammate Shawn Mackay died on Monday after being hit by a car in Durban 12 days ago, but is hopeful the tragedy will inspire a stirring response from the side.

There will be a minute's applause for Mackay before the game at Canberra Stadium, while the Brumbies will wear black armbands in his honour for the rest of the season.

"It's hard. Because you're around the fellas all the time, you're reminded that we did leave someone behind," Smith said on Friday.

"But the boys have focused pretty well in terms of the analysis on the Stormers and prepared very well for this week.

"I expect a pretty good performance tomorrow night. The 22 of us are very eager to get out there and play some football - and play some good football at that as well.

"There's been a lot of emotion the past two weeks; it's been emotionally exhausting. Our thoughts have been with the Mackay family for the past two weeks and thinking of them and thinking of Shawn as well.

"But we're never too far from what we need to do and focusing on playing some good football."

Smith said although each player has coped with Mackay's death in their own way, his passing had "galvanised" the team.

"Players have got to take their own time to deal with it themselves," he said.

"Players take different motivation from what's happened and I'm sure tomorrow night we'll celebrate Shawn's life as well as play some good football for the Canberra community at the same time, and for ourselves as well."

Coach Andy Friend believes the Brumbies are in a good mind frame after injured captain Stephen Hoiles - who grew up with Mackay in Sydney's eastern suburbs - addressed the side on Thursday following his meeting with Mackay's parents.

"So we know why we're playing tomorrow night," Friend said.

"It's all about the game now and hopefully we'll put on a performance that will make everybody proud.

"I know 100 per cent that they'll be there mentally. My concern is physically, after the draining week, that later on in the halves it will be a real test of their character to see how they hold on.

"But mentally there'll be no issue at all. They're all very keen, really keen, and it's just important now that we look after ourselves between now and game time.

"There's been a lot of energy and emotion spent this week."

Friend said the eighth-placed Brumbies were also well aware of the significance of winning to remain in playoff contention.

"We spoke a few weeks ago about the fact that, to make the semis, you can probably only afford to lose three games and we've dropped three games," he said.

"So we know that every game from now on becomes very, very important for us.

"We're focusing obviously on this as a key game for us and we're definitely looking for a win and hopefully four or five (competition) points."

Friend said the fact that both of NSW's tries in their 12-6 victory over the Stormers last Saturday came from kicks had not been lost on the Brumbies.

"So, if the weather stays (fine) like it is today, then we'll definitely see some balls going in behind them and some balls in the air to test them there," he said.

"You saw some of that pay off for the Waratahs, so we'll wait to see what conditions provide."

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