There's now less than a month until Parkes' Peter McDonald Premiership campaign kicks off and the Spacemen are warming up to the task.
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The seniors had a win in their first trial, against Wellington, on Sunday afternoon and club president Tony Dwyer was pleased with the hit-out.
Parkes welcomed the Cowboys' 18s and first grade sides to Pioneer Oval, where the young guns dominated 36-6 and the seniors secured a 24-16 win.
Wellington was solid and Dwyer was pleased to see the first grade squad stepping up after the much-talked about loss of three forwards at the end of a successful 2023 campaign.
Jack Buchanan has made the move to Orange where he'll captain-coach Orange CYMS, Will Wardle has gone to Queensland where he's playing with Townsville and Takitau Mapapalangi has gone to France.
While the Spacemen would love to hear from more players keen to have a run this season, Dwyer's confident it will come together under the continuing leadership of Chad Porter.
Porter led the firsts to the preliminary finals in 2023, only going down to the PMP's eventual premiers.
He returns as our captain-coach with the core group of locals in Sam Dwyer, Jake Porter, Cody Crisp, Jacob Smith, Joe Dwyer and Riley Scott lining up again.
They've also recruited a front rower and a centre from New Zealand who they plan to onboard in the next week or two.
Jimmy Clyburn is back to coach reserve grade and Brent Wood the under 18s.
League tag plans are being finalised and the call is out for any interested players to contact the club - or join them at training at Pioneer Oval from 6.20pm this Thursday, April 11.
"We've been struggling for numbers for girls but will hopefully have a side within the next week or so," Dwyer said, based on interest.
When it comes to senior player numbers, the rising participation in the Woodbridge Cup has been a talking point for months now.
Players, for one reason or another, might choose to move to the second-tier competition in our neighbouring communities and clubs including Cowra and Blayney have moved from Group 10 this year.
Not surprisingly, it's had an effect on the local numbers - and Dwyer would encourage any player out there keen for a run with Parkes to get in touch.
"You look at where Parkes and Forbes are situated: we're in the middle of Eugowra, Trundle, Peak Hill and Manildra," Dwyer said.
"If all those players stayed at Parkes you'd have a really strong two grades - first and reserve - that's an ideal world."
Parkes isn't the only club to have had significant changes in the off-season, but Sunday's trial against Wellington was a good one to get a measure of the season ahead.
Wellington, who were hot on Parkes' heels as they made preliminary finals in 2023, also looked solid in Sunday's trial, the Spacemen gaining the upper hand later in the match.
"They'll be competitive again, they were hot on our heels last year," Dwyer said.
Parkes lines up for another trial this weekend, taking on Orange Hawks, also expected to be a force, at Pioneer from 2pm Sunday.
