SPORTS

Daily Liberal sports editor Barry Hildebrandt marked his 32nd anniversary with the Daily Liberal by drawing the curtain on his career.

Barry poured his heart and soul into ensuring the Daily Liberal remained up to date on all the latest sports news.

He retired with glowing tributes from all the leaders of sporting organisations and clubs around Dubbo. It was a fitting finish for a man who had helped shape the sporting landscape at Dubbo.

RUGBY LEAGUE

A massive month of rugby league was headed by Dubbo hosting the Country Championships and Charly Runciman making his debut for the St George Illawarra Dragons.

They happened on the same weekend, with Runciman making his debut against Penrith on Saturday, June 29, while the Country Championships were held over the whole weekend.

It was a dream come true for Runciman, who set up a try for Chase Stanley with a spectacular over-the-shoulder pass. The Dragons ultimately went down to the Panthers 25-10 but it was still a moment to remember for the 19-year-old.

The youngster said he was only allowed to tell a few people of his selection prior to the game, to ensure there wasn't too much pressure on him.

The Country Championships involved a major weekend of action at Apex Oval.

Illawarra claimed the Tier 1 Championship with a 38-22 victory against Newcastle, while Group Seven took out Tier 2 with a 30-22 win over Group Two.

Newcastle took out the under-18s while the Bidgee Bulls were crowned under-16s champions.

At a local level, CYMS finished the month on top of the Group 11 table after beating the Parkes Spaceman while Dubbo Macquarie were hoping a big 62-10 win over Cobar was going to kickstart their season. Earlier in the month, CYMS claimed bragging rights by winning the local derby.

In school league news, St Lawrence's Primary won the Russell Richardson Cup and Assumption took out the David Peachey Shield.

RUGBY UNION

The Dubbo Kangaroos found themselves inside the top five as they passed the halfway point of the Blowes Cup Clothing competition and were poised to make their play for the semi-finals.

It was a month of deja vu for the Roo's as they started with matches against Orange City and Narromine, only to finish it with Narromine and Orange City.

It began with a 25-3 loss in the grand final rematch against the Lions, before a slender 16-14 victory against the Gorillas.

However Narromine got some revenge the following week, hanging on for a 21-all draw, scoring a try after the full-time siren to split the points.

The 'Roos finished the month with 25-7 defeat against the Lions, making it 30 games in a row without defeat for the Orange team.

AUSTRALIAN RULES

After a tough start to the Central West AFL season, the Dubbo Demons finally had something to cheer about in June as they notched up consecutive wins. The first was an impressive 77 victory over the Orange Tigers, while the second was a forfeit win over the Cowra Blues.

The Demons were still at the bottom of the competition ladder, despite the two wins.

ASTLEY CUP

Dubbo College fought valiantly but couldn't prevent Bathurst from taking out the 2013 Astley Cup in June.

Dubbo were convincingly beaten by Orange 561.5-238.5 in their first tie and needed a big win against Bathurst to be any chance of winning the competition. However it wasn't to be.

Bathurst won five of their eight sports, with Dubbo taking out the tennis and two sports finishing as draws and the score finished up 483-317.

Bathurst had also beaten Orange in their tie which ensured they claimed the Astley Cup, a fitting present for Bathurst High School's 100th anniversary.

RACING

GREG Ryan's march towards another NSW jockeys premiership continued at Wellington in June when the champion rider claimed a winning treble.

Ryan started his winning run with victory aboard the Stephen Gleeson-trained Empress Consort in the Nautical Pools 3yo Maiden Plate (1100m).

Ryan's other two winners were for Dubbo trainers with with the Fiona Watts-trained The Brown One and the Michael Mulholland-trained Lucky Liaison both victorious.

BASKETBALL

Dubbo was able to lay claim to having one of the top under-14s girls basketball teams in NSW after outstanding results at carnivals during June.

They finished an impressive third in the State Championships and then qualified for the semi-finals of the Country Premier League.

Meanwhile Hayden Howell and Daniel Mercer combined to help the Dubbo Rams to a solid 70-63 win over Lithgow in the Waratah League. Unfortunately just a fortnight later they were beaten by Hawkesbury 77-62 to deal a major blow to their finals chances.

HOCKEY

The Dubbo Blue Jays showed plenty of spirit during an injury plagued June in women's Premier League Hockey.

They started the month with a tough match against defending premiers, the Lithgow Panthers, and were in the fight before going down 4-0 in the gala day at Pioneer Park.

They bounced back with another good showing at home, edging out the highly rated Kinross-CYMS team 2-1.

A 1-all draw against semi-final hopefuls Souths was another highlight as they withstood heavy pressure from their rivals to share the points.

At the end of June, the Dubbo side sat in seventh place, six points outside the top five, with four wins and two draws from their 12 matches.