Four Wallabies head west as part of exciting Force squad for 2025

The Western Force have added a lot of quality to their ranks ahead of next year’s Super Rugby Pacific season, with a quartet of Wallabies committing to the club, as well as other players who seem more than ready to do a job for the Perth-based outfit.

Wallabies Dylan Pietsch, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, Harry Johnson-Holmes and Darcy Swain have all made the move out west, and internationally capped Nic Dolly and Matt Proctor will also ply their trade in Western Australia.

Backrowers Nick Champion de Crespigny and Vaiolini Ekuasi have also put pen to paper, with Ekuasi coming off another strong season with Auckland in New Zealand’s NPC. Coach Simon Cron said in a statement earlier this year that Ekuasi will play a “street fighter” role.

Winger Mac Grealy has made the move from the Queensland Reds to the Force in a move that should intrigue fans. Grealy scored two tries against Warren Gatland’s Wales in a July exhibition fixture – the Downlands College graduate will be eager to embrace this chance.

Experienced midfielder Sio Tomkinson and Australia U20s representative Divad Palu have also signed on for the 2025 season. Academy trio Ronan Leahy, Dough Phillipson and Mitch Watts have also been included in the top squad.

Tiaan Tauakipulu will also look to make moves in 2025 on the back of a first-time call-up to the Australia XV representative side. Kane Koteka and Wallabies prop Tom Robertson are also back with the Force for the upcoming campaign.

“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,” coach Simon Cron said.

“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.

“… One of our key strategic goals has been to create some positional depth,” he added.

“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.”

There is genuine international quality among the Force’s ranks now, and as coach Cron acknowledged, it wasn’t always that way. The quartet of Wallabies who have signed with bring some X-Factor to a side that already boasted talented options.

Nic White and Ben Donaldson were already at the Force, and Carlo Tizzano – who has enjoyed a breakout international season in 2024 – will also lead the way on the defensive side of the ball again. Tizzano led the competition for tackles made in 2024, and by quite some distance too.

“We’ve got more players stepping up to become Wallabies, as well as representing the Australia XV,” Cron explained. “Initially we had limited exposure and representation in those key representative teams so it’s great to see our players driving themselves forward.”

Western Force squad for 2025

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