History would have them finishing in fifth, but there is no doubt Brent Wood and his men in the red, white and blue were primed for a tilt at the premiership.

The Parkes Champion Post looks back on the season that was for our Parkes Spacemen.

There was plenty to be happy about as a Spacemen supporter and player during the 2021 season.

Perhaps the most important of all those happy moments was the 38-22 twin town derby win over Forbes on August 8 - a game that turned out to be their last game for the year.

After winning against Dubbo Macquarie the week before, the big win against their arch rivals really gave the impression that 2021 could see Parkes win their first flag since 2013.

So close, yet so far.

The end of the game against ladder leaders Dubbo CYMS on July 4 on was like a car crash unfolding in front of your eyes in slow motion.

Sure, it was a hell of a finish to a game of rugby league for the purists, but for Spacemen players and supporters it was a crushing loss.

Parkes was sitting pretty at 16-10 with less than five minutes remaining on the clock, and held all of the momentum. Out of nowhere though, the Fishies scored two tries in 90 seconds to win the game 20-16.

When Corey Drew planted the ball down next to the corner post with seconds remaining, you could feel the whole of Pioneer Oval, apart from a core of raucous CYMS supporters, just completely deflate.

Some teams struggle to recover from a loss like that. Fortunately, the Spacies did.

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It's gotta be up there with one of the tries of the season in Group 11, and in one of the biggest games of the season for the Spacies too.

We'll paint a picture for you.

June 13, Pioneer Oval is heaving for the annual Parkes vs Forbes derby.

Parkes are, somewhat surprisingly, completely dominating the Magpies, with Bailey Hartwig playing against his former side.

Jack Creith, starring for the Spacemen yet again, makes a line-break down the right edge, with just the fullback to beat and Hartwig in support.

Creith slows down and casually puts Hartwig over with a backhanded flick, a la Benji Marshall in the 2005 grand final.

And the crowd goes wild!

It's hard to talk about 2022 prospects for any Group 10 or 11 club given how much is going to change before the new season begins.

But it is clear the Spacemen are in a very strong place to make an impact in the new competition immediately.

President Tony Dwyer has previously mentioned they'll be looking to pick up a centre and a forward or two, but they'll also need to find a new coach.

Brent Wood confirmed that he won't be continuing as coach in 2022 ahead of the joint Group 10 and 11 Peter McDonald Premiership.

In his typically modest, softly-spoken way he explains that he believes the club will be in a better place now, and thinks there are big things in store next year.

"If the club keep all the boys, there's definitely a premiership team in there for sure.

"There was good support all through the season and we likely would have been able to host the grand final if the season was able to continue which would have been huge for the town.

"I think it's a really exciting time for the club as a whole, with all four teams making finals," said Wood.

There have been a number of strong individual performers over the 2021 season, but none more so than Jack Creith.

You might have noticed us at the Parkes Champion Post waxing lyrical about Creith throughout the season, because he is a very special player to watch.

Creith, who spent time at the Raiders earlier in his career, primarily played at five-eighth this season, but also filled in at halfback and fullback when Porter and Dwyer were injured - and he played exceptionally well in all three positions.

It's hard to think of a thing Creith doesn't do well. The tall, rangy back is powerful with ball in hand, and impossible to stop close to the line. He is deceptively agile and a brilliant playmaker in the passing and kicking games.

Oh, he can defend as well.

We might have made him sound like a better version of Latrell Mitchell but really, the most impressive thing was his consistency across the entire season. If there was a betting market, he'd probably be favourite for Group 11 Player of the Year.

There are a lot of talented young players wearing the red, white and blue at the moment, but the pick of the lot might be Finnley Neilsen. The tireless lock will be heading down to join the West Tigers next year, and it will be exciting to track his career from here.

Neilsen often played under 18s then backed up from the bench in first grade, and he has a wonderfully rounded game for someone so young.

He makes big and consistent metres on the edge and has a smart offload but also hits very powerfully in defence. You'll never see him play a bad game.

Wood reckons Neilsen will do 'whatever it takes' to crack the big time and the whole of Parkes will be backing him to do it as well.

Hulking winger Wise Ratudina got better and better as the season wore on. He formed a brilliant partnership with Waisale Lucabuka on the edge, and the pair just seemed to grow in confidence and output each time they stepped on the field.

Ratudina was very hard to bring down when he got a head of steam up, and he was really starting to make some tough hit-ups towards the back end of the season.

If the Spacemen can keep the majority of their Fijian players, they will be in a very good place next year.

Wood rued the slow start to the season for the Spacemen, but was pleased with how well they improved the longer the season went on.

"We definitely could have been better at the beginning of the season, we were letting sides piggy back up the field with silly penalties and completing our sets as well as we would have liked," he said.

"That might have come down to missing a year as well, and certainly we were missing a few players with injury which didn't help.

"Towards the back end of the season having Chad and Sam back was massive.

"Chad is more than just a ball player as well, his communication in defence is crucial and he is a real leader obviously," said Wood.

Spectators, players and coaches all through Group 11 got the sense that Parkes were looking very dangerous ahead of the finals, and Wood said that came down to a more resilient, cohesive side.

"Everyone started to really want to play for each other and there was a big belief in the club that we could challenge for the flag.

"It didn't worry us that we were in fifth, we were backing ourselves to be able to do it the hard way in finals with our side at full strength," Wood said.

Look, of course we are biased.

Having watched many of the Parkes Spacemen games this season, it was easy to fall in love with the way the side went about things on the field.

What turned out to be their last game, gave the impression they possessed one of the most valuable things a side could have ahead of finals - momentum.

Spacemen fans might be left wondering 'what if' about the cancelled season, but one thing is for sure - the Spacies did Parkes very proud.

Bring on new league in 2022 - we ain't afraid of a little competition!

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