Western Force coach Dave Wessels hopes a re-shuffled forward pack will give his backs plenty of clean ball when they take on the Queensland Reds on Thursday night.
The Force were up to the challenge at the breakdown in their 19-13 loss against the Waratahs but Wessels has made several changes to his forward pack.
New recruit Ben Daley will get his first start in place of Pek Cowan, while the shuffle of the back five in the scrum will see Matt Philip start at lock, Ross Haylett-Petty move to blindside flanker and Brynard Stander shift to Number 8, with Richard Hardwick relegated to the bench.
Wessels has not made any changes to the backline which was severely hampered by slippery conditions at Allianz Stadium last Saturday.
"We felt that we were good in a number of areas of the game last Saturday, but we were disappointed that we didn’t win the game," Wessels said.
"So, what we’re looking to do this week, in hopefully better conditions, is be able to show more of what we’ve been working on from an attack perspective."
Wessels also implored fans to turn out on Thursday night as the Force's future hangs in the balance.
"We’re very excited to play in front of our home crowd for the first time this season, and I think there’s a rallying call for West Australians, that if you love rugby and if you want to see Super Rugby continue in this state, whether you support the Force or not, you need to come on Thursday night," he said.
"More than that, we’d like you to bring a mate, it’s really important that we show through our numbers at this game that we want to keep professional rugby in Western Australia.”
TEAM
Western Force team to take on the Queensland Reds at nib Stadium
1. Ben Daley
2. Heath Tessmann (C)
3. Jermaine Ainsley
4. Matt Philip
5. Adam Coleman
6. Ross Haylett-Petty
7. Kane Koteka
8. Brynard Stander
9. Ryan Louwrens
10. Jono Lance
11. Chance Peni
12. Billy Meakes
13. Curtis Rona
14. Luke Morahan
15. Dane Haylett-Petty
Reserves
16. Tatafu Polota-Nau
17. Pek Cowan
18. Tetera Faulkner
19. Richard Hardwick
20. Isi Naisarani
21. Michael Ruru
22. Ian Prior
23. Alex Newsome
The Force take on the Reds on Thursday, kicking off at 9:30pm AEDT, broadcast live on Fox Sports Channel 501.
