Coach John Mitchell is confident his Western Force side can perform well in the upcoming Super 14 season and wants to see further advances Friday night's trial against the Reds before the following week's season-opening blockbuster with the Brumbies.
Given the amount of changes to their squad, the Force have garnered little support coming into the season ranked 10th in the betting for the competition from the 14 teams.
However, with Matt Dunning, Andre Pretorius, Tim Fairbrother, Brett Sheehan, Nic Henderson, Sam Harris and Mark Bartholomeusz arriving, the Force have added plenty of quality.
Along with a host of talented youngsters and retention of James O'Connor, Pek Cowan, David Pocock and Richard Brown, Mitchell is confident the Force will do well while other teams deal with the expectations of winning - especially Matt Giteau and Rocky Elsom's Brumbies who the Force play at ME Bank Stadium to begin the season next Friday.
"It's all hypothetical at this time of year and everyone takes a guess," Mitchell said.
"What's important is what we have and what we do with it. We clearly have high expectations as a group, but there's more pressure on the likes of the Brumbies and Waratahs. If you look at the Brumbies on paper they should win the competition."
The Force played two trial matches in South Africa starting with a 54-12 loss to the Stormers and then a 26-0 win over the Sharks. That gave the new squad a chance to bond together and they have one final hit-out this Friday at ME Bank Stadium against the Reds.
Mitchell doesn't care how the scoreboard turns out on Friday, but he is looking to see further improvement from his squad to ensure they are ready to face the Brumbies the following week.
"We are looking at a few things and naturally want to get a bit more knowledge on some individuals. Some haven't had any football like Pek Cowan so he'll be in the 24 and it's important for him to get some football," he said.
"Trial scoreboards mean nothing at the end of the day. I spoke in South Africa about having eight 20 minute periods and making sure we maximised each one to get something out of them, and this game will go to two 40s, so the players won't have the drinks break in between and that will increase their accountability on the physical, mental and skills."
Mitchell also noticed some different rule interpretations while in Cape Town to play the Stormers and Sharks, and particularly his flankers Brown, Pocock and Matt Hodgson will need to adjust their games accordingly.
"At the breakdown they've been very heavy on the tackler not rolling away, which clearly you have to be a lot more compliant in keeping your feet," Mitchell said.
"They've been a little bit pedantic on the back lifter at the mauls for blocking the entry of others and then the South African referees were very strong on runners advancing in kick situations."
"That was quite unique for a few of the boys. Loose forwards love to come up from the scrum, ruck or lineout and take off running forward, and to ask them to stop before they are brought onside is a new challenge."
Mitchell is pleased to see Reds and Wallabies flyhalf Quade Cooper allowed to take on the Force on Friday, but the opposition in