Nic White wants to make amends for ACT Brumbies in Super Rugby AU final

That's why the veteran scrumhalf looms as the perfect man to be pulling the strings before the ACT Brumbies host the Super Rugby AU grand final at Canberra Stadium next Saturday.

White is one of three players left from the Brumbies' last grand final appearance - a five-point loss to the Waikato Chiefs in 2013 that still burns to this day.

It seemed as though the Brumbies had one hand on the trophy on that August night in Hamilton, leading by 10 points with 17 minutes remaining. How quickly things can change.

Now White, Scott Sio and Tevita Kuridrani will look to make amends in pursuit of the Australian title - but timing their run looms as one of the toughest battles for any player in a big game.

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So rather than spend a weekend off stressing about rugby, the Brumbies squad has been given a couple of days off with one directive: refresh the mind and body, be ready to go on Monday.

"That first one, I remember how quickly that week went," White said.

"It's an exciting week and it can go by pretty quickly. You've got to do your best to not play the game on Monday, which can very easily happen. I've done it before.

"You've got to make sure you're focusing on what you can control, and making sure you enjoy the week. That's really important, these don't come around all the time.

"You want to make sure you don't mentally drain yourself during the week so you're sharp come Saturday. Listening to a guy like [James Slipper], he's a guy who has done the week and won it, we've got a bit of experience here. These weeks are what rugby is all about, it's why you play the game.

"You want to look back on it and know we've worked really hard all year, and a lot of boys have worked hard for a lot of their lives to put themselves in a position to play a final, at home, and win one.

"We've worked really hard to put ourselves in this position. The trick is not getting too stressed out about the game on Saturday, just relaxing and letting Saturday come. You can't play the game too early in your head, because you will get to Saturday and you will be a bit flat."

White can lean on his big game experience this time around - think World Cup showdowns, Challenge Cup and Premiership finals.

So how will the Brumbies' young guns cope with the week as they edge closer to the first Super Rugby grand final in Canberra since 2004?

White is confident the likes of rising stars Bayley Kuenzle, Darcy Swain, Nick Frost and Noah Lolesio - should he be selected to return from injury - will be able to handle the nerves.

"We've worked extremely hard. That's the biggest thing, timing our run, tapering into that game and exploding onto [Canberra] Stadium to leave it all out there," White said.