The Western Force may not have broken their Super Rugby Pacific finals duck yet - but on the domestic front, it’s been happy hunting.
An Nation Rugby Championship title in 2016 as the Perth Spirit was followed by a second title in 2019 as the Force during their Super Rugby absence.
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With the NRC ‘Toast Rack’ still sitting in Force HQ, the WA franchise is now prime to add another domestic trophy to the cabinet.
Fresh off their bonus-point away win over the Waratahs in Round 1, the Force sit atop the Super Rugby AUS ladder and host their remaining two round-robin fixtures at Tompkins Park - home of Palmyra Rugby Club.
It’s an ideal start to the tournament and one Max Burey - the inaugural Super Rugby AUS Player of the Week - hopes to put to good use.
“I think the old man must pick that award,” Burey joked with reporters on Thursday.
“It's always nice to get a bit of recognition, but at the end of the day, I was just really happy with the team's performance. A lot of boys sort of got recognition off that, and it was just real positive for us as a team.
“[The Waratahs] were very aggressive with their line speed… we probably weren't as game ready as maybe the other guys with not as much club and stuff.
“But once we got into it, we just really wanted to play territory, keep the forwards fresh, because we know the Tahs are quite good at set-piece.
“We came out [in the] second half really firing, and got the jump on them there, which was good. We know it's a three-week tournament, so it's always important to have a good start.”
It was far from perfect Force performance with their go-forward regularly stifled by the Waratahs’ strong scrum base.
However, Burey expects his side to come out stronger against an imposing Brumbies’ set piece this weekend after crucial time in the legs.
“That's what this competition's about,” Burey added.
“It's giving boys more footy, getting them in the fire, and seeing how we deal with it.
“At halftime we made some good adjustments… it wasn't just me and Swain, it was all the boys. Everyone's got to take it on board and action it. We did that, so it came out quite well in that second half.
“You want to play every minute. I love being in at ten, so it's good to get some more footy within the Force system, I'm very happy now to be getting an extra run.”
The Brumbies will offer a lot of challenges, with Australia U20 stars Lington Ieli, Toby Macpherson and Shane Wilcox complimented by the likes of Wallabies fetcher Luke Reimer and Australia A regular Rhys Van Nek.
Burey is expecting an elevated ACT performance following the Brumbies' Round 1 loss to Queensland.
“[The] Brumbies are a very good challenge, they're going to be quite a step up,” Burey said.
“They're a really good team, well drilled, have been for years. No matter who plays or in that jersey, they're really good at the breakdown. They're really physical.
“For us, it's just about making sure we fight fire with fire a little bit around the physicality and being ready for it, but still focusing on what makes us and our DNA.
“I think we did that quite well [against the Waratahs], and hopefully on the weekend we can get a decent crowd and a bit of emotional energy around it and take it to the Brums.”
