EWEN McKenzie is expecting an intense first hit-out of the season when his Queensland Reds take on ACT Brumbies at Barlow Park on Saturday night.

The Brumbies exhibited a "win first" mentality in their 25-0 defeat of the Western Force last week.

And it’s a tactic McKenzie believes both teams will be adopting this weekend.

"They went out there and they obviously took their shots at goal, so they’ve gone there to win on the scoreboard and we understand the mentality of that," McKenzie said.

"When you’re trying to get back into the positive space, you just want to get wins and winning the scoreboard’s important in trial games.

"We do that ourselves. Both teams are going out there to make sure they finish on top on the scoreboard and they’ve got a run under their belt."

The Brumbies are in the midst of a rebuilding period after losing stars such as Matt Giteau, Adam Ashley-Cooper, Rocky Elsom, Stephen Hoiles and Mark Chisholm in the off-season.

But McKenzie believes the club is in reliable hands with the hiring of World Cup-winning coach Jake White.

"I’m sure he’s made a difference already," he said.

"He’s been around, he knows what to do. He knows how to coach winning formulas and successful outfits, so I’m sure he’s made a difference and we saw it’s a good hit-out for them first-up."

From a Reds perspective, they are looking to notch a victory against a Brumbies team that has historically had the wood over them.

But while he has one eye on maintaining a winning habit, McKenzie is also planning ahead to the opening match of the Super Rugby season against the NSW Waratahs.

That means managing the workload of stars such as James Horwill and Will Genia to make sure they are match-ready but not unnecessarily exposing them to injuries.

"You can worry, you can put people in cotton wool or whatever, in the end you’ve gotta front up," he said.

"That’s a pretty tough start for us. It was too tough for us last year, so we’ve got to make sure we’re ready for it.’’

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