JULY 31 was a history-making day for the Parkes Boars.
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They secured their first ever home grand final since the club was established in 1967 after a convincing victory over CSU.
The decider was initially slated to go ahead at Northparkes Oval against CSU on August 14.
But last Wednesday it was pushed back a week after the Dubbo local government area went into lockdown due to positive COVID-19 tests.
Then on Saturday came the news all of regional New South Wales would go into lockdown for seven days.
With talk that week-long period could be further extended, uncertainty hangs over the fate of the grand final.
Boars captain-coach Josh Miles and his side are twiddling their thumbs at the moment as they await news of what will happen with the grand final.
"At the moment we are just having this week off, I left it up to the boys to do their own thing in their own time," he said earlier this week.
We will see how long the restrictions get extended for and let Central West Rugby Union make a call, but I completely understand either way."
The Boars were the dominant side all season, finishing at the top of the table after being beaten just once - by their grand final opponents CSU.
Anyone who has ever played, or even supported, a sports side never wants to win by default and Miles is of course to get on the field and play.
"We have worked all season for this really.
"We've beaten every other team in the comp three times and just want this one game to finish it off.
"As I have said before though, there is more important things going on at the same time.
"I'd be happy to play the game behind closed doors or whatever is an option when restrictions are eased," said Miles.
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He knows what a huge deal finally having a home grand final is for not only the club, but the entire town - and really wants to reward Parkes for all their support.
"It's a massive thing for the club and town so I really would like to see it go ahead.
"Fingers crossed we get it under control soon and can finish off with a bang," said a hopeful miles.
CSU president Marcus Burrell told Australian Community Media's Anya Whitelaw that he and his team-mates are hoping they'll get a chance to play.
"We just want to get a result, win, lose or draw, it feels empty at the moment with no result. I think everyone is still pretty keen to play it no matter when it is...if they said we were going to play it in a month I think everyone would still be keen," said Burrell.
"We've been the best two sides in the comp this year and we want to see who will come out on top.
"Like we went over to Parkes and were unlucky over there [in the major semi-final], they played very well and we just weren't up to them on the day, but we'd beaten them the week before, so we knew we could do it," Burrell said.
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