Ben recently visited Brewarrina alongside Latrell Mitchell, Shaquai Mitchell and Jack Wighton. Representing the Win­marra foundation founded by Latrell, the boys spent time engaging with the local community and assisting at-risk youth.

Former Parkes Spacemen and current South Sydney Rabbitohs player Ben Lovett has been nominated for the The Ken Ste­phen Medal – Man of the Year, which rec­ognises the efforts of an NRL player who has not only achieved on the field, but has committed time off the field to community projects. A player is nominated by their NRL club for going above and beyond in their involvement in charity work, youth develop­ment or community support.

The 2024 Ken Stephen Medal – Man of the Year nominees form the NRL Commu­nity Team of the Year. Fans have the chance to vote for their favourite nominee and we are urging everyone to vote for former Parkes local Ben Lovett who was selected as a nominee from South Sydney Rabbi­tohs. Souths have won the award for the last two years, in 2023 with Latrell Mitchell and in 2022 with Cody Walker. Lets help Ben make it three in a row

Ben had this to say about being nomi­nated: “I’m honoured to be nominated for an award that represents something bigger than football. Giving back to the community and inspiring kids to achieve their dreams has always been my passion.

“I am grateful for Parkes, the Spacemen and the Rabbitohs for giving me the plat­form to make a difference, and for their sup­port throughout.”

To vote for Ben go to: www.nrl.com/com­munity/awards/ken-stephen-medal/

Forbes Magpies took the two points on Derby Day with a 22-18 win over Parkes Spacemen. Image credit: Parkes Spacemen Facebook page.

The biggest day on our local rugby league calendar is the June long weekend Parkes versus Forbes Derby Day, which has be­come a long standing tradition between the twin towns.

A massive crowd flocked to Pioneer Oval in Parkes on Sunday 7th June, to witness the clash between Parkes Spacemen and Forbes Magpies.

Parkes started the day strong, and were off to a thrilling start, taking out the League Tag 10-4, 18s 20-18 and Reserves 20-16, but it was Forbes who were victorious in the first grade battle, winning 22-18.

Forbes Magpies Coach Cameron Green­halgh said, “We haven’t beaten Parkes on Derby Day since 2018, it was good to get the win over there. We let a substantial first half lead slip away, it was 22-4 at half time and they came back to 22-18, but we hung on and got the two points.”

Each year, a massive Forbes crowd trav­els across to Parkes to support the team, and always get the players pumped up.

Parkes Spacemen President Tony Dw­yer said, “This particular round between Parkes and Forbes is known as one of the best local derbies in country rugby league.

It’s great to see Forbes enjoy it as much as us, you see how many people it brings over and how pumped up they get for it, they just love beating us over here.”