The Forbes Magpies Junior Rugby League under 14’s team has made it all the way through to the Minor Premiers 2018. The Magpies will meet Red Bend in the grand final at Spooner Oval on Saturday afternoon.

“The boys have had an extremely successful year, with all growing as players and as young men,” according to Coach Chris Butler. “Their confidence and ability as a team is impressive,” he said.

A real team effort in 2018 has seen this team struggle with their fair share of setbacks and injuries. They became Minor Premiers for the second year in a row after a big win against West Wyalong on Saturday, 11th August, in front of a home crowd.

Now with a home ground grand final booked the excitement, anticipation and suspense was apparent at training on Tuesday. The boys were trying to remain calm and treat it as just another training session but with special attention from supporters and members of this wonderful club the change in mood was evident.

Speaking with supportive mums, Tracey Bray and Lisa Glasson, this excitement and anticipation was confirmed with both mums saying that their boys where extremely focused and excited. Both mums wanted to wish the team the best of luck and said, “We know you can do it!’”.

Year 10 student Charlie Staines took a step closer to achieving his dream this week when he signed a two-year NRL Player Development contract with the Penrith Panthers Rugby League Club.

NRL talent scouts have been watching Charlie for some time and the offer came after recommendations based on the skills and abilities Charlie has displayed in both club and representative football competitions.

Charlie will continue his schooling at Forbes High School for the next twelve months. The Panthers will assist with costs associated with any representative football he is involved in including the Western Rams and Country NSW. He will be provided with strength and conditioning, diet and training programs to further develop his talent over the year at which time he will be considered for a pre-season program in preparation for the inclusion in the Under 18 squad and possible relocation to Sydney.

Charlie attended and participated in training camps with the Cronulla Sharks and Canberra Raiders this year too. He and his family are taking everything in their stride, but they are excited by the prospects the signing will bring in the future. Charlie will compete with his local team, the Forbes Junior Magpies U16’s, in the grand final of the local competition in a couple of weeks before flying to Samoa to fulfil his representative commitments with the NSW Country side on the long weekend in October.

By Anita Morrison

The Forbes Magpies put in an incredible performance to come from behind and win the Group XI Rugby League grand final in Dubbo 26 – 22 on Sunday. Taking on Dubbo CYMS, who have been undefeated for two seasons, was a daunting task for the Mapgies, but coaching coordinator Cameron Greenhalgh said this diasadvantage only ramped up the players’ enthusiasm.

“We were massive underdogs going in, but we knew that we had the side, we had the belief that we could win,” Greenhalgh said. With 12 minutes to go, CYMS had pulled out to a 10 point lead, but two tries in the final minutes gave Forbes the impressive victory.

Acknowledging that Forbes is sporting a very young team this year, Greenhalgh said it was difficult to single out top performers. “Our captain-coach Jake Grace won the Bob Weir Medal for man of the match, and he certainly led by example. “They were all excellent. They’re a young team, but have great confidence and big game performance,” Greenhalgh said.

By Cindy Nutley

The Forbes Magpies League Tag side won in spectacular fashion last Saturday against twin town rivals the Parkes Spacecats. With the Spacecats in top position on the Group XI leader board, the Magpies went in as the underdogs, but came out with a will to win. They also became the talk of the day defeating Parkes 16-10 after a half-time lead of 16 – 0.

“It was the best possible way to finish our regular season,” said Captain, Amy Townsend. “The girls put everything into action that we have been working on all year. There is nothing better than beating Parkes at home!

“We will take a lot of confidence from our performance this weekend and look to continue our form into the finals.”

The next game for the girls is a home semi-final this Saturday, playing the Parkes Spacecats again. “We are looking to put in another ground breaking performance,” said the Captain.

It was a spectacular day all round for the Magpies with all four grades taking home wins. The Under 18s won 26-6; Reggies won 30-14 and First Grade Lead won 22-20. First Grade will also play the Parkes Spacemen tomorrow. Gates will open at 10:00am with the Ladies League Tag game at 10:30am.

With the second half of the 2016 Group 11 season already upon us, the Forbes Magpies will look at importing their discipline and concentration, after losing two games that could easily have been won.

With round seven being a split round, the Magpies will rest this weekend after playing the first half of round seven last weekend in their 28-22 loss to the Parkes Spacemen, with the teams who rested last weekend playing this weekend.

With round seven yet to be completed, the Magpies currently sit in fourth position on the ladder, however with two extra wins, they could easily have found themselves in outright second position.

These two wins could have come from their matches against Parkes last week, and their match against Nyngan on May 29. They turned on a terrible first half against Nyngan, trailing 30-10 at half time, but came back in the second stanza to lead 32-30. But they then conceded a try in the dying seconds to lose 36-32.

It was the opposite story against Parkes, getting off to a blinding start to lead 18-0, before letting go of their grip and losing 28- 22. Magpies President Greg Grogan said the players would be working their consistency in games. “I think Coach Jake Grace will be looking at their attitude and discipline so the boys can play for the full 80 minutes again,” he said.

“At the end of the pre-season we expected to be in the top three or top four, which is where we are at the moment, but we could easily be in the top two.” Grogan said the rest this weekend was good to allow injured players, including captain/coach Grace, the chance to recover before taking the field again against Dubbo Westside in round eight on June 26.

While Westside hasn’t had the greatest season to date, Grogan said it would be important for the Magpies not to get too complacent. He added that his side would be boosted by the return of more players from injury, however.

By Joshua Matic.

Both Red Bend Catholic College Opens and Fifteens teams had convincing wins recently in the Western Final of the Country Cup. The opens had a big 40-4 win over St Johns. Always in control they showed some great combinations in attack and defence.

The Man of the Match was the versatile Jye Dillon who started in the centres and ended up in the front row. The Fifteens scored the first try, however St Johns (Dubbo) fought back strongly, with the College leading 10-6 at half time.

The second half saw the Red Bend team show some great teamwork in scoring four great tries to eventually run out winners 30-6. The Man of the Match was
half back Thomas Toohey. The College has a proud history in the Country Cup winning the Opens and Under Thirteens age division twice previously, while the Opens were runners-up in the final last year. The teams now travel to Cootamundra next term on the 28th of July for the Southern Finals, where they will play the winners from the Riverina, Wollongong, Canberra and South Coast regions.

The Country Cup is run by the Country Rugby League (CRL) and the NRL. It is an All Schools Event for Country Schools (State Catholic Private) that is contested in three age divisions under 13’s and 15’s, and Opens Schools
attend regional gala days with the winners progressing through to regional finals. Winners of the region then progress through to play in the Southern or Northern Finals from here the Southern and Northern winners play the State Final.