GROUP 11 grand final time is probably my favourite time of the local sporting year for a number of reasons.
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Firstly, it means both myself and Nick can take a bit of a holiday, but one of the other reasons is that it gives us a chance to reminisce about some of the past moments that make local footy so good.
Sunday will be the 11th Group 11 grand final I have been to, with my introduction coming when Terry Fahey's Narromine Jets sprung a bit of an upset by rolling Wellington in the 2005 decider in front of a crowd packed into the newly-built Apex Oval grandstand.
So I thought this would be an apt time to reflect on the past decade of grand finals
The following year provided arguably the biggest upset in my time here when Cobar, featuring local legend Tom Good and newly appointed Western Division coach Darren Jackson, defied all the odds to beat the unbackable favourites Wellington in an extra-time thriller.
Amazingly, from that time on, a total of just four clubs have been involved in first grade grand finals.
Sunday will be the eighth time in nine years that Dubbo CYMS have been involved, with their only absence from the biggest game of the season being in 2010 when Parkes beat Wellington in the decider.
While CYMS have made it to seven of the past eight grand finals to be decided, their record is mixed.
In 2007 they beat arch rivals Dubbo Macquarie 31-16 but the boys in blue got revenge 12 months later on a history-making occasion for Group 11.
In the only grand final ever played under lights, and in torrential rain, the Raiders beat the Fishies 14-6 to claim the 2008 title.
The night experiment was a "one and done' conveyance though, and in 2009 CYMS added to their tally of titles when a late try to under-18s skipper Max Ray handed them an upset win over Parkes in the first of many recent grand finals the teams would do battle in.
As mentioned before the Fishies missed out in 2010, with Parkes making up for the heartbreak of the previous year when they beat Wellington 32-12.
The 2011 decider was played down in Parkes after the Spacemen were first to qualify for the big one, and while the dominated the opening 40 minutes it was a masterclass from Joe Williams in the second half that enabled CYMS, co-coached by Luke Jenkins and Blake Tremain-Cannon, to snatch a 22-20 victory.
Macquarie jumped in to spoil the Parkes/CYMS show in 2012 when they beat the Fishies 32-12 in the grand final at No.1 Oval after CYMS had a week earlier beaten the Spacemen in an extra-time thriller just to make the grand final.
The ensuing three years has seen another period of dominance enjoyed by CYMS and Parkes, with the Spacies getting over the Fishies 30-18 in 2013 before the men in green and white rebounded with a 34-20 win last year.
When you consider that CYMS won the four grand finals prior to my arrival in 2001-2004 it certainly has been a golden era for the club, and whether you love them or hate them you certainly have to respect them for that consistency.
They will enter Sunday's big game against Parkes as favourites, and rightly so after winning two of the three contests between the two sides this season (the other was a draw).
But grand finals have a habit of throwing up something different, something special, and I can't wait to be there and watch another chapter of our local footy history unfold on Sunday.
Good luck to all the teams involved on Sunday.