The ability of the NSW Waratahs to prosper without the inspirational leadership of Phil Waugh will come under scrutiny this Saturday, with the veteran flanker rested from the Super rugby clash with the Force in Perth.

Waugh suffered a mild calf strain in last Friday's 23-16 win over the Chiefs.

"These things can quite easily develop into a grade one tear, and that would probably be six weeks out, so we're actually going to rest Phil this week to take care of that calf muscle," NSW coach Chris Hickey said on Monday.

"Hopefully it will be all healed and it won't be an issue moving forward.

"Waughy sees the big picture and the fact that we've got 11 weeks to go. I think last year he started with a strain and then ended up with a tear and that was three or four weeks out, so it's just a matter of managing it properly so it doesn't become a long term injury."

In their one previous game without Waugh this season, NSW produced their worst performance in recent memory, losing 23-3 to the Cheetahs in Sydney.

Another member of the four-man NSW leadership group, five-eighth Berrick Barnes, will also miss Saturday's match after being in doubt with a head knock for the second straight week.

With over half the competition remaining, Hickey was taking a long term view.

"With Berrick he's going to see a neurologist tomorrow just to get some more testing done. We obviously want to be certain about him coming back and his welfare is the number one thing, so we've also ruled him out for this week as well," Hickey said.

"We've still got another 11 weeks to go in the competition, so player management welfare in a longer season becomes really important to us."

Lock Dean Mumm, who led NSW against the Cheetahs, is in line to do the job again this week, according to Hickey.

Hickey said Waugh's spot would go to either Pat McCutcheon, who took his place against the Cheetahs, or Chris Alcock.

The Force are also missing a couple of openside flankers in David Pocock and Matt Hodgson.

Hickey expected another Wallaby back rower, Richard Brown, to line up in the number seven jersey.

He could have a full complement of Test front rowers to choose from this week, with Al Baxter back from injury.

Hickey was well aware of the importance of shutting down in-form Force five-eighth James O'Connor.

"He's obviously a talented player and one of those players that's got the ability to make something out of very little, so we need to keep the pressure on him," Hickey said.

"We need to make sure that the quality of the possession he gets is not front foot ball."

Winger Drew Mitchell, another member of the Waratahs leadership group, said NSW still had room for improvement in attack, after they managed just two tries from 14 line breaks against the Chiefs.

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