In bittersweet news for Western Force fans - and potentially great news for Wallabies fans - star Dylan Pietsch is set to be cleared to return for this weekend's clash with the Waratahs.
Pietsch has been forced into a long sideline stint after picking up a troublesome quad injury following his strong start to the season, and is hungry to finish the Force's campaign on a positive note.
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"Hopefully, this week I'll be back and available for selection," Pietsch told reporters on Tuesday afternoon.
"[I'm] really keen to be out there on Saturday night and do the Sea of Blue really proud. My body feels really good. We sorted a fair few things out. Had a bit of a tough run with little niggles and stuff this year.
"The medical staff here are amazing and they've really sorted out what's going wrong, really broken down my body movements. I'm feeling awesome, ready to go."
Unfortunately, the clash with the Waratahs - the final one for the year for the Force, who have the bye in Round 16 - will be a bittersweet one.
Having been in the top six of the majority of the regular season, the Force were hoping to continue that trend and make their maiden finals appearance in Super Rugby.
However, two disastrous trips to New Zealand and Fiji and a home loss to the Brumbies now sees the side sitting in ninth.
Along with the Drua, who have the bye this weekend, they unfortunately become the first sides to be officially ruled out for finals hopes.
"Internally, it's obviously disappointing," Pietsch admitted.
"We thought we started the season well and were really building on something - we kind of let that one month slip away.
"In this tournament, there's not a lot of games. If you let one month slip away, then your season ends up being kind of tainted."
However, Pietsch is optimistic the side can finish the season well, and is particularly excited about facing his former side.
The Waratahs are still an outside chance of making the finals, but need to win both their games and will be resting on other results. Pietsch is excited to not only get back out in Perth, but also spoil the Waratahs' finals hopes as well.
"We love playing at HBF [Park]," Pietsch added.
"We've seen a big growth in people coming to our games. It's really pushed us forward, and really gives back to the people who are doing so much for us week in, week out.
"We had people come into Fiji to watch us play, travelling 17 hours to come watch us play.
We really want to finish on a high and we're hoping to give the fans what they saw at the start of the year, free-flowing kind of rugby."
