Western Force coach Simon Cron is adamant the best is yet to come for winger Darby Lancaster ahead of his club debut on Friday.
The one-time Wallaby will start against Moana Pasifika in Pukehoke after overcoming a thigh injury that delayed the start of his season.
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The 22-year-old had a breakout debut Super Rugby Pacific season with the Melbourne Rebels in 2024 after switching from Sevens, eventually earning a Test debut against Georgia.
Cron was confident Lancaster could return to the Test arena and spark the Force's attack, with the side coming off two losses to start the year against the ACT Brumbies and Blues.
"You haven't seen the best of him yet," Cron told reporters.
"We're hoping we can be part of his pathway back into the Wallabies, and I think that he has all the talent, skill, and drive to go a very long way.
"...From the moment he came over to us and started training and working with the team, he's been so exciting and I am ecstatic to get him back. He's got x-factor, speed, a real student of the game.
"We've really enjoyed him in our team and it'll be great to have someone of his experience on our edges."
Lancaster's return is especially timely as the Force deal with the absence of Wallabies star Dylan Pietsch.
Pietsch has yet to feature in 2026 due to a foot injury, with Cron remaining hopeful he will be back after their three-week New Zealand trip.
"What he's done is he's obviously aggravated the plantar fascia tendon in his foot," Cron explained.
"He's a power athlete, so I think we're waiting to get him to the bye and see how he goes through that bye week around his prep and see from there.
"Ideally, he's back by that stage, but it's a case-by-case basis."
The Force will be on the road for the next three weeks, with their match against Moana Pasifika followed by the Highlanders and Hurricanes.
"This is probably the tightest group we've had at the Force," Cron believes. "What I mean by that is they're all quite a similar personality type, there are some differences, but they're all pretty driven.
"We've only been here a couple of days, but it's been really good for them and even this morning as coaches, we're just watching them engage around their team-within-team stuff and the connection they need to have in certain areas of the game, and they've been really good around it so it's actually quite nice to be on the road with them."
