Being deprived the time to truly unlock his team's potential is haunting Dave Wessels.
As a Super Rugby entity, the sun this week set on his Western Force team after their bid to remain was dismissed in court.
Wessels, their Cape Town-born coach, is devastated after the Force became sacrificial lambs as Australian rugby seeks to meet demands for next year's leaner, but not necessarily meaner, Super Rugby competition.
"We felt we were at the start of an exciting journey," said Wessels.
"We came second in the Australian conference behind the Brumbies with the same number of wins.
"We now have the most number of Force players at the Wallabies, we had the most locally produced players who played Super Rugby. Also, half the team is under 22, or playing Super Rugby for the first time," he explained.Force to be reckoned with
"We feel if we were able to keep this team together for 18 months, as the Lions did, that we in time could be a very competitive Super Rugby outfit.
"The sad thing for us is that we are never going to have that opportunity to fulfil our potential. For anybody who is involved in anything competitive that is a very hard thing to get your head around."
It's easy to feel Wessels' pain.
He started turning around the fortunes of the Force, transforming them from easy beats to a side difficult to break down tactically and psychologically.
Their fight for Super Rugby survival has resonated with Western Australians, who are geographically, and in some ways culturally, far removed from the more urbanised eastern states.
"The pressure we've been under in the last couple of months has really galvanised the community in Western Australia around rugby.
"We had 10,000 people come out to try to rally around the team a few weeks ago. It has been difficult but it has also been a special time. Everybody has really stood behind the team. That has been fantastic."Southern hemisphere game changer
Their exit may have ramifications for the Australian Rugby Union as voices for a senate inquiry into the affair grow louder.
The fallout may also reverberate outside Australian rugby as Andrew Forrest, the team's billionaire mining magnate backer, sets his sights on the formation of an IPL-style league targeting the game's top players.
Wessels reckons it not just hot air.
"Andy has some very exciting plans. He is working very hard to flesh them out. He is an incredibly intelligent and incredibly wealthy man and I think some of the things he is suggesting are going to work and could be game changers. Not just for Australian rugby but for the southern hemisphere."
As for Wessels, his stock is up after just a year in charge of the Force.
He is seen as a young, dynamic, in-demand coach and is being linked with a move to the Rebels.
"I'm very fortunate that I have some options," the 34-year-old said. "I realise in sport you can have options the one day and none the next.
"I'm very flattered that there is some interest in me. Now it's about spending some time with my wife and family and making the best decision for us," he said.
Would the former University of Cape Town coach consider coaching in South Africa again?
"All of my family and my wife's family are in Cape Town. Long term I probably at some point would like to live and coach in South Africa.
"At the same time Australian rugby has been very good to me. I've been here a long time now.
"I've been here since 2011. They have given me some incredible opportunities. I'd like to be loyal to them and reciprocate some of the faith they showed in me."..