Western Force coach Michael Foley has been dumped from the Super Rugby club, effective immediately.

Foley is in his fourth season with the Force, who are last in the Australian conference and third-last overall with a 2-10 record this season.

The decision to change coach comes two weeks after the Australian Rugby Union formed an alliance with the Force to run the franchise, which is struggling with financial difficulty and inability to recruit top-line players.

Assistant Dave Wessels will take over as coach for the final three games of the Super Rugby season, with the club to immediately start a process to appoint a new head coach for next year.

Foley led the team to just 18 wins and a draw from his 60 games in charge.

His best season came in 2014, when the Force only narrowly missed the finals with a franchise-best 9-7 record.

Foley, who still had a year to run on his contract, attempted to introduce a new attacking game plan this season.

But as the injuries mounted in a team already lacking firepower, the results went south quickly.

“Michael is a fine coach and has done a good job in his four years with the team considering some of the obvious challenges he’s faced,” RugbyWA chief executive Mark Sinderberry said.

“We would have liked to have had more success during this time but the Western Force also had its most successful season under Michael in 2014.

“With the team out of contention for finals, it was appropriate timing for both parties to look to the future and that’s why we have agreed to part ways.”