Western Force recruit Darcy Swain opens up about his work with a sports psychologist to grow as a player

Western Force appear set to get the best version of Darcy Swain, with the high-profile recruit confident his work with sports psychologists has helped him mature as a player. The fringe Wallabies lock has also declared he is not here for a free ride and vowed to earn his spot in what is shaping up to be a crowded second row room. After a decade in Canberra and 78 games with the Brumbies, Swain took the plunge and decided to head west for the next chapter of his Super Rugby career. The 27-year-old has 17 Wallabies caps, and one of his last outings in the green and gold came against England at Optus Stadium in 2022 — a night where he made the headlines for the wrong reasons after he was sent off for headbutting Jonny Hill. Two months later, he was shown a yellow card against the All Blacks for a dangerous clean-out on Quinn Tupaea, an action which later landed him a six-game ban. But after copping seven Super Rugby yellow cards from 2020-2023, Swain did not receive a single sin-binning for the Brumbies last season and credited work with a sports psychologist for improving his discipline. “I was younger, and you get more wise with age. I’ve done a bit of work with sports psychologist Guy Little in Canberra,” Swain said. “He’s helped me heaps in that area, just being able to have more awareness about myself and not take myself too far over the edge of putting myself in a bad spot and putting the team in a bad spot. “Those little moments in games are frustrating, but I felt like I’ve got rid of them — I still have a few in me, but I’m more aware of it now, and that’s gone a long way to help me become a better player. In training at the Brumbies, I was trying not to get frustrated and lash out and do silly things.” Swain is confident he is on the right track and has already spoken to the Force’s sports psychologist about continuing to improve. On-field, he will join a second row which includes club captain and recent Wallabies call-up Jeremy Williams, Test-capped veteran Sam Carter and exciting young duo Lopeti Faifua and Josh Thompson. “I’m not coming here for a free ride or anything; it’s a challenge. Lopeti and Josh, they’re so athletic, unbelievably in great shape as well. I was with Carts back at the Brumbies. He taught me a lot, and I sort of stuck under his wing,” he said. “I know (Jeremy) is not here at the moment, but I’ll definitely be having a crack at him every training session, and picking his brain about what he does around the line-out, because I know he’s a bit of an operator there. “I’m not trying to be anyone that I haven’t been in the past, just doing everything I do a little bit better, having really good set-piece and and working on my carry and being explosive in low positions, because I’ve always struggled with that.” When the news of Swain’s departure to the Force broke in Canberra earlier this year, his long-time teammate and friend Len Ikitau shed tears at his press conference. Swain, who arrived in Perth in September, admitted it was gut-wrenching decision to leave the nation’s capital, but felt confident it was the right one. “The hardest part about it was leaving my best mate, leaving so many good friends and I made a ton of memories in Canberra, but it was at that stage where it was time to go, it’s time to move on,” he said. “My partner, her family is all from Canberra, my son was born three months ago in Canberra. “I just wanted a change and the opportunity to come across and link up with Crono (Force coach Simon Cron), he coached me in under-20s and I like the way he coaches — he’s quite firm, and gets the best out of you by being firm.”