Acting Western Force head coach James Stannard revealed the side have talked about doing “something pretty special” as they gun for more silverware in Sunday’s Super Rugby AUS Grand Final.
The Force will host the NSW Waratahs in Sunday’s decider from 1pm WST at Wanneroo Rugby Union Club’s Kingsway Regional Sporting Complex, with entry free for all patrons.
The Force are aiming for their first piece of silverware since lifting the National Rugby Championship in 2019 at UWA Sports Park in front of a healthy Sea of Blue crowd.
“We spoke about it briefly this morning around what opportunities we have this weekend,” Stannard told ABC Radio’s Extra Time program.
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“There’s a select few who are part of the program who could do something pretty special this weekend.”
Sunday’s Grand Final is one half of a bumper weekend of rugby in Western Australia following on form Saturday’s sold-out Bledisloe Cup game between the Wallabies and All Blacks at Optus Stadium.
“The supporters have got the Bledisoe on Saturday and I think they’ll back it up for the big event on Sunday at Wanneroo,” Stannard joked.
“It’s a great opportunity to see some of the local boys. I don’t think its happened before for the Force to host a final. The boys will be so excited for that.”
Stannard and the Force coaches named their 23-player team for Sunday’s game on Wednesday.
“We’re big on keeping combination and cohesion in how we play,” he said.
“I think a lot of boys will be chomping at the bit to get into this final and prove something and build some momentum into pre-season.
“The boys over the last three weeks have really put their best foot forwards into pre-season.”
The Force faced Sunday’s opponents, the Waratahs, in Round 1 of Super Rugby AUS, winning 24-3 in Sydney but Stannard said that counted for little.
“Yeah, they’re a good team,” Stannard said. “They’ve got good players. They probably didn’t get enough time together in that first week.
“As the comp has gone, they’ve spent more time together. They’re got a good forward pack and some dangerous backs too. They’ll be much improved for this final.
“We’ve just got to be prepared for it but also just to worry about us.”
The Force are coming off a defeat to the Queensland Reds last weekend, with Stannard eager to see improvements.
“I thought defensively we didn’t do what we said we’d do around the collision and on the other side on the attack too, we had a lot of unforced errors on our ball handling and execution,” he said.
“We were pretty good at that in our first game against the Tahs, letting in only three points.
“I didn’t think we were strong enough with the ball in our collision work against the Reds.”
Kick-off on Sunday is 1pm WST, with entry free. The game will be streamed live on Stan Sport and rugby.com.au’s Youtube channel.
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