It was the match every fan looked for when the 2017 Group 11 draw was released and on Sunday the grand final rematch between the Forbes Magpies and Dubbo CYMS will be played out.
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The Magpies make the trip to Caltex Park on Sunday for the first time since the incredible grand final win last season, one of the biggest moments in the club’s proud history.
And the side is hungry to repeat that result.
There is much to play for this weekend with CYMS unbeaten on top of the ladder and Forbes one of three sides locked on eight points in second place.
Captain-coach Jake Grace says his team is 100 per cent excited about this weekend’s clash, although they would have liked to be coming off a win in their traditional long weekend derby with the Parkes Spacemen.
“Coming off a loss isn’t ideal,” Grace said, his side going down 28-18 last time out.
“We didn’t play our best footy that day, but we have amended a few things at training.”
This weekend’s hosts are four points clear in Group 11 at this stage and last weekend the men in green and white scored a convincing 40-16 win over the Nyngan Tigers.
The Tigers are the only other side to have beaten the Magpies this season.
Grace says lessons have been learned from both losses.
“As a forward pack, we need to dominate the ruck and slow the game down to the pace we want to play,” Grace said.
“We need to make sure our fellas out wide do their job and make their one-on-one tackles,” he added, with Parkes particularly damaging in that area during the last match.
A number of sides have matched CYMS for sections of contests this season but no side has been able to match the Dubbo side for the full 80 minutes, something which the Magpies must do this weekend to be any chance.
While the clash between CYMS and Forbes is the undoubted highlight of this weekend, elsewhere the Narromine Jets host the Macquarie Raiders and the Nyngan Tigers welcome Dubbo Westside to Larkin Oval.
Please note league tag starts at 10am Sunday and all grades will be earlier than usual.
We need to dominate the ruck and slow the game down to the pace we want to play.
- Forbes captain-coach Jake Grace