Western Force hooker Heath Tessmann arrived in Perth late last year on a wing and a prayer in a bid to save his Super Rugby career.

He needed a perfect storm of events to unfold for things to work out in his favour.

Fortunately for him, the universe was on his side, and Tessmann was thanking his lucky stars on Monday after securing a new two-year deal with the Force.

Tessmann feared his Super career might be over after being axed by the Melbourne Rebels at the end of last season.

At 28 years of age and with just 10 Super caps to his name, Tessmann was hardly hot property.

But a broken foot to reserve Force hooker Ben Whittaker meant the Perth-based franchise needed to bring in an extra body for pre-season training.

Enter Tessmann.

Complications in Whittaker’s recovery meant the Force needed a reserve hooker for the early rounds of the season.

Enter Tessmann.

And when Nathan Charles ruptured the anterior cruciate in his knee in March, the Force needed a starting hooker.

Enter Tessmann.

The Queensland-born rake made the most of his opportunities, producing a string of strong performances to finish fifth in the Force’s player of the Year award.

Tessmann is still coming to grips with his journey from rugby scrapheap to Force regular.

“I wasn’t even on the wider training squad when I first came to the Force, I was just someone brought in to hold a bag at training and fill a few spots,” Tessmann said.

“Originally, I was only going to be coming here for two months.

“I was fortunate enough in that my sister had moved over here two months before me, so I was bunking in with her.

“I came over here not knowing if I’d be coming back after Christmas.

“And then it got extended a little bit because of injuries to other guys.

“And then I was lucky enough to spend the rest of the year here.”

The Force managed just four wins and a draw last year under new coach Michael Foley.

But Tessmann is confident the foundations have now been set for future success.