Heading into last season’s Group 11 grand final, not many people outside of Parkes gave the Spacemen much chance of defeating Dubbo CYMS for the first time in a grand final, especially as it was to be played on their home turf.
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12 months and the Club’s ninth First grade premiership later, those same people are skeptical of the chances of Pat Rosser’s men again this season.
When the Spacemen dropped to fifth at the end of the regular season after a heavy defeat to Dubbo Macquarie, a lot of doubters surfaced to say Parkes had no chance this season.
The past four weeks, the Spacemen have gone about their work with little fanfare, steadily growing in form and confidence.
When the two teams line up again in this Sunday’s grand final, the Spacemen will go in knowing they are playing their best football of the season.
They have defeated Nyngan Tigers (26-14), Dubbo Macquarie (44-10) and Wellington Cowboys (44-16) in good fashion, defying their critics along the way.
Parkes had not beaten Macquarie this season before the semi-final but clicked to play their best game of the season so far.
They followed that up with a very good showing against the Cowboys in Wellington, a performance that will have CYMS sitting up and taking notice.
The Spacemen will be hopeful of carrying that form into Sunday’s decider.
CYMS have only played twice in the last month, losing to Nyngan in the final round of the regular season and defeating Wellington in the major semi-final 30-10.
They enjoyed Week 1 of the finals off after finishing minor premiers and rested again last week by virtue of being first into the grand final.
While they may be fresh from the break, the limited amount of matches CYMS have played in recent weeks could see them slow-starters on Sunday - something Parkes will hope to exploit.
