Parkes Spacemen president Tony Dwyer said there was no hesitation from the board when considering Clyburn.

"We put his name forward at the AGM, and everyone voted unanimously to award him Life Membership," he said.

"He moved here from Canowindra, where his family are league royalty (the oval is named after Paul's father, Tom) and played before coming onto the committee, coaching and recruitment.

"He has been instrumental with getting Fijian players across to the club; he's accomodated them, fed them and gets on with them so well and has a great relationship with all of them.

"He first recruited Epi (Sadrodo) here in 2008 and he is still here which says how highly Epi respects him," said Dwyer.

Recruitment is no doubt the most influential thing Clyburn has done over the past few decades, and has helped to turn the Spacemen into a destination club for footy players.

Dwyer was keen to point out handing out a Life Membership of the Spacemen was no ordinary occurence - it is saved for the very best of the best.

"You don't give them out lightly. At the moment there is only Mick Greenwood, Warwick Wheeldon, Graham Cole and Graeme Thompson alive in town who hold Life Membership," he said.

"He was very humbled on Friday night, so humble in fact he couldn't sit down fast enough!

"He is very passionate, and does all the jobs that need to be done," said Dwyer.

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First grade captain-coach Jack Creith, who has been involved with the club since he began his footy journey in the under 10s, said Clyburn was particularly crucial for the club winning premierships in 2010 and 2013.

"Pauly is just so resilient in the fact that he has continued to keep working for the club behind the scenes and bringing players in without needing to be asked," he said.

"He's such a good bloke and I always knew he worked hard but this year I've really been able to see how active he is behind the scenes.

"The club came close to folding around 2007, 2008 and if it wasn't for him in the background I'm not sure the club would've been able to continue.

"We then won premierships in 2010 and 2013, and we couldn't have achieved that without Pauly," said Creith.

There's probably no greater thing anyone can say about 'Pauly' than that. What a man!

The Spacemen kick their 2022 Peter McDonald season off this Saturday at Pioneer Oval here in Parkes when they host Bathurst St. Pats. Gates will open at 10.30am.

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