It was a cold, rainy and miserable day in Forbes on Sunday…… a perfect day to say to Mum on her day to get out of bed and join us for a great day of rugby.

In the first game, the Under 11 squad took Bathurst, who were out for revenge after being beaten by the boys two weeks ago.

In this game, Aiden Raynor, playing at halfback, showed that he is becoming a player to watch.

He certainly had Dylan Quade and Hunter Green hitting the ball off the ruck with pace to cross the advantage line. Mack Mitchell also ran hard and, when Bathurst broke the defensive line, made a great covering tackle.

In this game, however, Bathurst would run out victors four tries to one with Sterling Green crossing the line late in the second half.

Unfortunately, in this game, the team was to lose Hunter Green for the rest of the day with a bad leg gash that would require five stitches.

In the second game, Parkes took of Forbes in a local derby.

Darcy Summerhayes and Sam Raynor linked up well to make an early break, however, ended with Sam being tackled short of the line.

The game was then spent in our own half with the boys having to defend their line.

Lachlan Reynolds continued to pest the attacking team with some good cleaning out and Charlie Hargraves pulled off a great try saving tackle late in the game, however, it was not enough to stop Forbes from running out five tries to nil.

By the third game, it was clear that the boys had not turned up to play. However, they took to the field to play Orange Emus with true grit and determination to turn the day around.

The game did not start well.

Brothers Sam and Aiden Raynor worked well together and Charlie Hargraves made a run that he is quickly becoming renowned for.

However, try as they might, they could not break the defensive line.

Lachie Reynolds put it all on the line in a great run down the left wing only to be tackled over the sideline in a massive tackle that saw him taken from the field with a shoulder injury.

It was at this stage that Darcy Summerhayes took on the line, only to run at the biggest player running around in the Under 11’s this side of the mountain.

The crash of bodies was heard as far as our nation’s capital and had the crowd moaning.

Darcy, however, with a pained face got up and played on. In the second half, with the score well against Parkes, the boys bit in deep and played some of the best rugby of the day.

It started with Darcy stealing the ball from an opposing player and having a run.

Dylan soon joined him and pushed him along in a classic ‘truck and trailer’ tactic that gained the team some ten metres.

Sterling would then cross the line for the first of Parkes’ tries.

Soon after Aiden Raynor also crossed the line for the second.

This, unfortunately, was not enough with Emus winning four tries to two.

Although a hard day on the field, the boys had fun and continued to grow as a team.

Toughest on the Field went to Darcy Summerhayes, while Dylan Quade took out the Player of the Week for his numerous great runs throughout the day.

 The rain in Forbes didn't deter our 14 little boars.

 With six games to be played it was sure to a tiring day.

 In Game one against Bathurst Gold Heath Rathbone showed he wasn't going to let the rain stop him.

 After several turnovers Hayden Milne made a big run to go in for a try.

 Game two against Milthorpe Mozzies was a tough one.

 Olivia Milligan and Lockey Harbridge  worked hard with their defence.

  Game three against Canowindra Pythons.

 Cameron Hunter's defence helped his sister Isabel Hunter score the first of her two tries for the day.

 In game four against Bathurst Blue we saw some awesome defensive skills from Oliver Reynolds and Angus Gillies.

 It wasn't long before Tom Chapman crossed the line for a try.

 Game five against Bathurst White is where Ryan Gibson showed us that size doesn't matter with his first try of the season.

 Kalvin Dargan soon went over with two tries along with Lachlan Gillies also getting a try.

 In game six against Forbes Ryker Moore slid over over the line to make his two tries of the season.

 Max Macgregor added another two tries to his tally for the season.

 A great day was had by all despite the weather.

Trophy Winners

Player of the week  Isabel Hunter.

Player of the week  Tom Chapman.

Most Improved  Cameron Hunter.

Dominos denominator Heath Rathbone.

Before we get to this weekend’s write up we best have a quick recap of the previous two gala days of the season so far.

The first day of 2017 was hosted by Orange Emus.

Newcomer Kyan Rathbone wasn’t going to miss his first hit out despite sustaining a prior injury resulting in a mean looking graze on his face.

Rumour has it that it may not have been an ‘accident’ rather a deliberate and dedicated attempt to scare the opposition.

Rookie Hugh MacGregor had a cracking day making an impact with natural attack and strong defence.

Both Hugh and Kyan were thrilled to come away with a try each after topping off a terrific days play in their first ever games.

They are indeed shaping up to be very valuable recruits.

Zac Guy, Jack Milligan and Memphis Ross enjoyed their debut to tackle footy after graduating from U7s and proved they have what it takes to mix it with the big boys.

Kayleb McConnell was welcomed back into the fold after a 12 month hiatus and showed he had lost none of his go forward running the ball up to make valuable metres for his team.

Late arrivals from Riley and Holly Duncan bolstered the team for the second and third games.

Award winners were- Hugh MacGregor, Zac Guy and Kayleb McConnell

Week 2 saw the young Boars head North to Dubvegas for the Roos gala day.

By all accounts Sonny MacGregor had a great day crossing the line a number of times and showed improved commitment to defence.

Showing a noticeable increase in confidence Eben Labuschagne injected himself into the attack with some terrific offloads to teammates resulting in positive gains for his team.

Fergus Keiran and Ian Perrin made their return and were keen to rip in after missing the previous week.

Ian was soon back into the groove with some quality clean out helping his team retain possession.

Fergus was resolute in defence ensuring he shut down the oppositions attack at every opportunity earning the Toughest on Field trophy with fellow awardees Ian Perrin and Jack Milligan- Players of the Day.  

Now to this week and it was a soggy start to Mother’s Day with the weather in South Parkes (aka Forbes) slightly damp on Sunday for the Platypi gala day. However the rain didn’t seem to affect the U9s who comfortably won their first game against Orange Emus Green  6-3.  

Pleasing Coach Ricey the boys got another win up over Kinross in their second game which was a somewhat heated and physical affair.

The 3rd game curse struck again with the young Boars running out of puff in the last game, losing 7-1 to a very mobile Orange Emus Black side.

Award winners for the day were-

Dominic Gibson- Toughest on Field.

Sonny MacGregor- Toughest on Field.

Henry Rice- Player of the Day.

Well done to all of the juniors involved in the gala day.