The way Parkes' young players stepped up was a highlight of a tough day at Forbes for the Spacemen in Round 1 of the 2025 rugby league season.

The Magpies dominated four grades of footy but new first grade captain Sam Dwyer couldn’t fault his team’s effort: the intensity expected of this derby was there from the opening minutes.

“It’s a pretty handy rivalry – one of the best you’ll find around bush footy,” Dwyer said.

“You know it’s going to be a tough game.

“These are the sort of games you love to play: good crowds and plenty of banter.”

The new Parkes captain coach had led his team into the contest expecting nothing less than what they met: a quality team.

“But in saying that there was a lot of positives we can take out of that,” Dwyer said.

“We had good sections of the game where we were playing good footy and we did have momentum - but probably silly mistakes let us down and it's quick to shift when you’re playing a good team.”

Forbes ran in three tries before Parkes got on the board to set themselves up for success.

Mick Coady crossed the line just six minutes in to play but the second didn’t come until 15 minutes later when Jordan Hartwig went over in the corner, with plenty of work by both teams in between.

Chad Porter, in his first match for Magpies, bagged the third of the day to see the hosts up 16-0.

Parkes responded when Cody Crisp put down a grubber and Mitch Wright’s kick added the extras to bring the scores in to 16-6.

The Spacemen looked hopeful of backing that up when captain Sam Dwyer broke away and bolted down the field, but the Magpies’ defence rallied and the visitors were denied.

It was Forbes that crossed the line again before the break, this time through Jake Porter, and Greenhalgh’s kick gave Forbes a 22-6 lead at half time.

Forbes captain Nick Greenhalgh credited the Spacemen for a tough contest, acknowledging his side's efforts to pile on the points early and late.

The Spacemen returned to the field for the second half with renewed energy and it was try-for-try for a spell.

Joe Dwyer scored for Parkes, Nick Greenhalgh for Forbes and Jacob Smede for Parkes to see the scoreboard at 28-16 with 16 minutes of play left.

As the clock ticked down, the Magpies showed they had plenty left in the tank.

Mitchell Andrews crossed in the corner, Jack Smith escaped Parkes’ clutches to put the ball down behind the posts, and Zeke Hartwig defied the Spacies’ efforts to hold him up.

There are lessons that’ll go into the training program as the Spacemen prepare for another road trip, this time to Bathurst to play against St Pat’s.

“I think we’ve got maybe five or six boys from last year’s team that are still here,” Dwyer said.

“So it’s a pretty fresh new team, a lot of boys making their club debut and I can’t fault them for their effort.”

The season opener saw a number of players make their club debut and first grade debut for Parkes.

“There’s plenty we’ll take out of the game for sure,” Dwyer said.

“We’re a young team so we’ve got a lot to learn, but the energy is there and the eagerness.”

Toby Cox stepped up from the 18s and put in a full 80 minutes in the back row in the derby.

“I was really proud of him, he didn’t take a backward step and put in the whole game,” Dwyer said.

League tag: Forbes 20 Parkes 10 Lillian Gosper and Grace MacGregor.

Under 18s: Forbes 24 Parkes 14 Tries to Taj Lovett (2) and Sonny MacGregor.

Reserves: Forbes 28 Parkes 10 Tries to Tye Toomey and Zachary Reimer.

First grade: Forbes 46 Parkes 16 Tries to Cody Crisp, Jacob Smede and Joseph Dwyer