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
Louis Rees-Zammit joins Jim Hamilton for the latest episode of Walk the Talk to discuss his move to the NFL. Watch now on RugbyPass TV