The Western Force are excited to announce the completion of their 40-player 2025 Super Rugby Pacific squad with four exciting emerging talents rounding out the group on full contracts.
The Force have had a targeted off-season recruitment drive with Wallabies Dylan Pietsch, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Harry Johnson-Holmes and Darcy Swain headed west, while internationally capped Nic Dolly and Matt Proctor have also joined.
Physical back-rowers Nick Champion de Crespigny and Vaiolini Ekuasi have also signed, with emerging lock Josh Thompson also bolstering the forward pack.
The Force have also boosted the backline with ex-Reds utility Mac Grealy added, along with experienced midfielder Sio Tomkinson and Australia U20s talent Divad Palu.
Force 2025 Super Rugby Memberships are on sale NOW for seven home games + Super W games from $170 per adult, while there’s FREE Junior Force Memberships for one child under 15 with a paying adult.
Former Nathan Sharpe medallist Kane Koteka along with Wallabies prop Tom Robertson both return to the 2025 Force fold too.
Fortescue Academy trio Ronan Leahy, Doug Philipson and Mitch Watts have now been elevated, along with Tiaan Tauakipulu – fresh from a maiden Australia XV call-up - to full contracts for the 2025 season.
Force head coach Simon Cron said: “The biggest focus was making sure the people we brought into our environment were going to add value and make a positive impact both on and off the field.
“The people we have targeted do that and have chosen to join us, so we are really looking forward to welcoming them to Western Australia.”
Cron was particularly buoyed by the amount of international representation within the squad, which has grown rapidly over the past 12 months with Wallabies debuts for Jeremy Williams, Carlo Tizzano and Hamish Stewart, while Harry Potter recently received a maiden international call-up.
“We’ve got more players stepping up to become Wallabies, as well as representing the Australia XV,” Cron said. “Initially we had limited exposure and representation in those key representative teams so it’s great to see our players driving themselves forward.”
The Force’s depth was challenging in the 2024 season, particularly in the tight five, but Cron was bullish that their off-season recruitment had gone some way to arresting those issues.
Cron was happy to have some extra games for the team in South Africa with the recent spring series. The tour gave a wide group of players opportunities, as well as having a majority of the SRP team play together.
“One of our key strategic goals has been to create some positional depth,” Cron said.
“Last year, tactically one of our major areas of concern was our ability to bring people off the bench to add firepower in the back-end of games which helps maintain momentum. We’re a lot closer to the finished product there than we have been.
“In South Africa, we tried our hardest to get as many of our Super Rugby team members over there, like Darcy Swain coming over early or Tom Robertson flying in from Wallabies camp, to help that depth and get games into those players.”
The elevation of 23-year-old front-rower Tauakipulu to the full squad comes after he played every game in the 2024 season and his recent Australia XV call-up, playing on Friday against Bristol Bears off the bench.
“We see a huge upside in Tiaan moving forward,” Cron said. “He’s grown in size and stature among the group. We look forward to working with him again.”
The Force have also elevated 20-year-old winger Leahy, 20-year-old scrum-half Philipson and 22-year-old lock Watts. Leahy, who was named in the U20 Rugby Championship Team of the Tournament in May after impressing for Australia, made two appearances for the Force late last Super Rugby season.
Cron was delighted to see three Academy players successfully transition into the Super Rugby squad underlining the Club’s pathway.
“Our Academy is a genuine pathway as players start to come through,” Cron said.
“Ronan has come out of the Australia U20s program. He’s been with us for over a year in parts and he’s had some Super Rugby caps. He’s a very driven young man. We’re looking forward to getting our hands on him and building him and his potential to play at the higher level.
“Mitch and Doug are both young in their position, coming through and building their knowledge. They’ll sit under guys who’ll help them grow their game.”
The Force group returned on Monday for pre-season following a three-week break ahead of the 2025 SRP season.
Cron said: “We want to nail this first block of pre-season training, so the boys get better at rugby, we want to build a bigger capacity in their engines which has been something the High Performance department have been building over the last couple of years.
“We’re in a better position to go to another level this pre-season thanks to that previous exposure.
“This six-week block is working on mindset, skillset and structure. They’re the three big ones we need to keep growing for our team to be successful.”
The Force’s 2025 season commences on Saturday 15 February at HBF Park against Moana Pasifika.
Force 2025 Super Rugby Memberships are on sale NOW for seven home games + Super W games from $170 per adult, while there’s FREE Junior Force Memberships for one child under 15 with a paying adult.
Western Force 2025 Super Rugby Pacific squad
Max Burey
Sam Carter
Nick Champion de Crespigny
Ryan Coxon
Nic Dolly
Ben Donaldson
Vaiolini Ekuasi
Lopeti Faifua
Issak Fines-Leleiwasa
Mac Grealy
Will Harris
Harry Hoopert
Tom Horton
Harry Johnson-Holmes
Kane Koteka*
Bayley Kuenzle
Ronan Leahy
Atunaisa Moli
Brandon Paenga-Amosa
Divad Palu
Reesjan Pasitoa*
Dylan Pietsch
Marley Pearce*
Doug Philipson
George Poolman
Harry Potter
Reed Prinsep
Matt Proctor
Henry Robertson
Tom Robertson
Papillon Sevele
Hamish Stewart
Darcy Swain
Tiaan Tauakipulu
Josh Thompson
Carlo Tizzano*
Patelesio Tomkinson
Mitch Watts
Nic White
Jeremy Williams
*WA local
Force 2025 Super Rugby Memberships are on sale NOW for seven home games + Super W games from $170 per adult, while there’s FREE Junior Force Memberships for one child under 15 with a paying adult.
