All Parkes representatives in junior development rugby league competitions advanced to the finals series after a successful season. Grace MacGregor with the Canterbury Bulldogs in the Lisa Fialoa Cup finished the season as minor premiers, going undefeated with seven wins and a draw. The Bulldogs finished their regular season with a strong 46-10 win over the Parramatta Eels in the last round with Grace scoring a try. In the first round of finals Bulldogs continued their strong campaign winning against Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks 58-10 earning themselves a week off and advancing to semi-finals in week three. The minor premiers were up against Eels in week three of finals, just one win shy of reaching the grand final. NSW Rugby League described the game against the Bulldogs and Eels as one of the most thrilling contests of the Westpac Lisa Fiaola Cup season. "The Bulldogs, who had steamrolled opponents all year with big wins, got off to a perfect start," NSW Rugby League wrote in their week three Around the Grounds report. The Bulldogs scored a try and converted followed by the Eels doing the same. "The Bulldogs reclaimed momentum almost immediately." The Bulldogs crossed the line again this time missing the conversion and the Eels answered back scoring a try and converting, and were now leading the game. After the break Bulldogs scored again and again missed the conversion with the Eels striking back almost immediately slamming the ball down to continue their lead. Bulldogs scored and put away the conversion to regain the lead 20-16. "The Eels refused to go away," NSW Rugby League reported. Eels evened out the score board crossing the line but missing the conversion making the game hang at 20-all. "With minutes ticking down, Parramatta were awarded a penalty directly in front of the posts. In a composed decision, they opted to take the two points, with Ma-Chong slotting the goal to edge her team ahead 22-20 - a lead they desperately defended until the final whistle ending Grace's 2025 Lisa Fialoa Cup campaign with the Bulldogs. "The Parramatta Eels have stunned the previously dominant Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs, clinching a hard-fought 22-20 victory to book their place in the grand final against Central Coast Roosters." Sonny MacGregor, representing the Illawarra Steelers in the Harold Matthews Cup also claimed the minor premiership title with his team after an impressive 32-10 victory over the Balmain Tigers in the final season round. After an impressive season the final rounds were not what the Illawarra Steelers were hoping for. In week one of finals the Steelers were defeated by Newcastle Knights 28-10 seeing the Steelers playing in week two of finals with hopes of keeping their grand final chances alive against the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Rabbitohs put points on the table first with a try, conversion and penalty goal before the Steelers crossed the line. The Steelers were up 10-8 before Sonny crossed the line and added four points to the scoreboard. Rabbitohs bounced back with two tries and a successful conversion winning the game 14-18 and progressing to week three of finals, which also ended Sonny's 2025 Harold Matthews campaign with the Illawarra Steelers. Elizabeth MacGregor and Triston Ross both claimed second place at the end of the regular season before the finals fixtures. Elizabeth MacGregor with the Canterbury Bulldogs in the Tarsha Gale Cup were undefeated all season with six wins and one draw before the final round, where they lost to Paramatta Eels 20-18. Elizabeth scored two tries in this match. In week one of finals the Bulldogs were back to their winning ways defeating Wests Tigers 10-8 and proceeding to week three of finals. Week three saw the Bulldogs up against the only team they lost to all season, the Eels. The Eels didn't hold back scoring the first try of the game and converting before the Bulldogs scored, missing the conversion. The Eels weren't letting that stop them crossing the line again and converting with the Bulldogs responding with another try shortly after with an unsuccessful conversion. The Eels put six more points on the scoreboard with a try and successful conversion, with two minutes remaining in the game. They took the win, advanced to the grand final and ended Elizabeth's Tarsha Gale Cup campaign with the Bulldogs. Triston Ross has been playing with the Sydney Roosters in the Harold Matthews Cup and has been part of six wins and two losses with the team. Their final round game was a close win against the Warriors 26-24 in Pukekohe, New Zealand. Their first finals round game was a different story for the Roosters. Up against the Warriors again the Roosters went down to a strong team 4-20. The Roosters were then up against the Central Coast Roosters in week two of finals. In what was a close game with five tries and five successful conversions for the Roosters, the Central Coast Roosters proved to be the better side with seven tries and four successful conversions. This ended Triston's campaign in the Harold Matthews Cup with the Roosters.
