Juniors shine on rugby's family day

Our rugby union juniors have shone on their home ground as the Platypi celebrated their family day at Grinsted Oval. The club’s junior sides delivered a clean sweep, with Forbes recording wins in the Under 12s, Under 14s and Under 16s fixtures. The success continued into the senior ranks, where the Colts opened proceedings against Orange City with a victory. After a hard-fought women’s clash, Forbes’ senior men’s teams both went down narrowly, finishing just three points shy of their Orange City counterparts. First XV captain Sam Parish said the results reflect encouraging progress across the club. “There’s definitely some consistency coming through in all our squads,” Parish said. “We’re building towards something and I think the patience being shown by the whole club is really positive.” While Saturday’s weather put a dampener on plans for family day, it was good to have the whole club play at home, to see the juniors’ success and then have Wallas run first grade out onto the field. Orange City proved too strong in the women’s match, claiming a 62–5 win. The Second XV contest was a much tighter affair, with the Lions edging ahead 15–12 at half-time before holding on for the win. “It really is such a young, fresh team in every grade,” Parish said. “But in that we’re starting to see some really cool combinations come through and the weekend was a really good example of that where we actually put 80 minutes together against one of the grand finalists from last year in Orange City.” The First XV clash lived up to expectations, with the Lions eventually securing a narrow 34–31 victory. The performance was a marked improvement on the previous round, where Forbes matched Orange Emus in the opening half before the visitors pulled away to a 55–7 win. Off the field, it has also been a busy period for the club, with consecutive home fixtures and last week’s Emus clash doubling as the club’s annual charity day. Players wore specially designed long-sleeve cotton jerseys, which were auctioned off following the match, helping raise $17,500. Proceeds will go to the Shaka Project, a registered mental health and suicide prevention charity that delivers free educational workshops to sporting clubs, schools and communities across Australia, with events planned for Forbes. Attention now turns to Round 9 of the Blowes Clothing Cup, with the Platypi travelling to Bathurst this Saturday to begin the second half of the season. Their next home game is scheduled for Saturday, July 18, with the club’s annual Ladies Day event already nearing capacity.