The last few years have been a difficult run of injury for 91-capped Super Rugby veteran Harry Johnson-Holmes, missing the Western Force’s entire 2025 season with an ACL injury in a preseason warm-up against the ACT Brumbies.
However, with the one-capped Wallaby recently extending for the 2026 season in the west, Johnson-Holmes is hungry to get back out on the park and help solidify the WA side’s set piece, an area targeted by opposition late in the 2025 season.
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Declaring his 2026 season as ‘unfinished business’ at the time of his extension, Johnson-Holmes has been taking that approach to the Force’s preseason training camp.
“Long-term injuries are always going to have their challenges,” the Force prop told Rugby.com.au.
“Some days are better than others. Ultimately, it's been pretty linear for me. I've been really grateful that it's gone smoothly. I'm feeling in good stead now that we're in the light at the end of the tunnel.
“The word [on his approach to recovery] would be to open your mind a little bit more and become a little bit more like your rookie self. There are a lot of things that I'm going to have to almost relearn. Even getting back into training, I'm not feeling as useless as I thought I might be in the first couple of weeks.
“Things are going to be rusty. For me, it's using the resources that we have at the Force, which is a great coaching group, and working with them, treating yourself a little bit like a 20-year-old fresh out of Colts, where you want to sharpen the axe in every way you can.
“You want to make sure that you're doing the little things well and you're doing them well all the time. Just invest in your body a little bit more and take pride in those little things around prep and gym and rehab stuff. I've never found myself so excited to get up in the morning and go do a bit of hard work with the boys.”
Johnson-Holmes has also found a club of players hungry to make history at the Force, the side holding a finals spot for most of the 2025 season before falling away in the final five rounds, and also losing the 2025 Super Rugby AUS grand final.
The 2026 season sees a new look set piece in the West, with experienced options in Tongan international Feao Fotuaika and 90-capped Super Rugby player Sef Fa'agase making the journey across the Nullarbor, with NZ U20s assistant Craig Dunlea also joining as forwards coach.
Their inclusions add considerable depth to the front row, joining Johnson-Holmes, current Wallaby Tom Robertson and Marley Pearce, among others.
“I've just found it to be a great group of committed guys,” Johnson-Holmes said of the side.
“I think everyone is there for the right reasons, and I think that probably ties into that unfinished business. You want to be in a position to contribute, in a position to add valu,e and I think when that's taken away from you, that opportunity to contribute, it hurts.
“You witness what's going on out west, which is a really good group of guys who are all working super, super hard to get the results that they know they deserve…and also the region as well, which is a super proud rugby region.
“Craig's been an awesome addition so far. He's only been here for a short time, but he's made it very clear that he's a lover of the scrums.
“With the group that we've got, everyone's just so willing to absorb information and buy in 100% into what it is that the coaches are trying to push across to us. I think having Craig, he'd prefer 80 minutes of scrums than any other part of the game. I think it's going to be a really good influence on the group. We know it struggled a bit last year and it was something that we've highlighted as a part of our game.
The side has also focused on attention to detail and getting the small things right, with that issue identified as a major learning in the latter half of the 2025 season, when the Force lost five straight matches in Super Rugby regular season.
In this area in particular, Johnson-Holmes believes his time on the sidelines holds him in good standing to contribute.
“[Being injured] it obviously gives you a different scope of the game,” he said.
“I've admittedly never watched so many live games of footy in my life than parking up at HBF Park every week or two to watch the boys run out.
“That desire to play, which is already pretty strong as any rugby player will tell you, it really burns a fair bit brighter when you just don't have that opportunity. The result of that is that you get to see the game from a different perspective.
“You take a little bit more interest in the analytical part of the game, the strategic part of the game. You almost become less of a coach and more of a punter… that rusted on diehard fan mentality where you're watching the games and think about what the boys could be doing better.
“I'm hoping that benefits me going into this upcoming season. That I can hopefully leverage my time in the stands and see how the team is operating as a whole.
“I suppose at the end of the day, it's just desire.”
