Wallaby Dane Haylett-Petty will be an interested spectator when Western Force open their National Rugby Championship campaign against Brisbane City on Sunday.

But the former Force star, who will be in camp in Queensland preparing for the Springboks, will be back in the blue jersey before the end of the season.

“Coming back, trying to stay involved in whatever capacity I can to grow the game in WA, is important,” Haylett-Petty said.

“The Force have done such a good job to keep things going.

“World Series Rugby is pretty exciting and the NRC is all about growth, finding new talent.

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“To be involved in that is pretty exciting.

“I’ll be doing whatever I can and hopefully have a run with some of the old faces and some of the new faces whenever I’m not involved with the Wallabies.”

Most Force players were scattered among other Super Rugby clubs when the side was axed.

“A lot of those guys shipped their lives over to the other side,” Haylett-Petty said. “I’ve still got all my family here and it’s probably a lot easier for me than some of the other boys,” he said.

The Force should be among the favourites to win the new-look NRC but will face tough opposition.

“Brisbane are expecting (Wallabies) Quade (Cooper) and Karmichael (Hunt) to be running around, the Melbourne side is stacked full of Super Rugby players and the Force team is pretty much the team that played World Series Rugby,” Haylett Petty said.