Western Force finish .500 as Cron targets greatness with Lomax and Beale in 2027

Western Force closed their 2026 Super Rugby Pacific season with a 31-25 comeback victory over the NSW Waratahs in Perth on Saturday, overturning a 20-7 deficit in driving rain to finish with a 7-7 record — their first non-losing season since a 9-7 campaign in 2014.

The result gave the Force seventh place on the table and five wins from their final six games, a run that coach Simon Cron described as a significant marker of the club’s progress. He was candid, however, about what it cost them. “It burns,” Cron said, acknowledging that a shortage of bonus points ultimately denied the Perth franchise a first-ever finals berth.

Looking ahead to 2027, Cron made clear the ambition is to go further. “We do live by a bit of a ‘it was good and good is the enemy of great’ motto, so we’ve got to keep pushing to be great,” he said. “But for now, what they’ve done the last eight weeks — very proud of them and what they’ve achieved, and how hard they’ve worked for it. Their mental focus around being able to handle those big moments was a massive improvement led by Jeremy Williams and the other leaders in the team.”

Former NRL star Zac Lomax joined the Force mid-season and played the final seven matches, scoring two tries. The 26-year-old’s physical conditioning will be a priority during the off-season. “We want to bulletproof his body,” Cron said. “He’s a big, strong man — he tells me that most days. So he will get a bit of a program to work on, and depending on what happens with the Wallabies, we’ll adjust his rugby depending on that.” Whether Lomax earns a Wallabies call-up for July’s Nations Championship fixtures remains to be seen.

Kurtley Beale, 37, will also return after defying expectations following a torn Achilles tendon in June 2024 that threatened to end his career. The veteran playmaker has been a consistent impact performer off the bench since returning in April last year, and Cron confirmed he is going nowhere. “He’s part of the DNA now,” Cron said. “And I know he’s keen to evolve into a coaching role in the future, probably after he slows down a bit — but as you saw tonight, he’s not slowing down.”