The awarding of the Player of the Year prize will be a highlight while former NSW Origin star and Australian representative Luke Bailey is set to be the special guest.

Bailey enjoyed a stellar NRL career, playing 269 games throughout a 15-year career at the St George Illawarra Dragons and Gold Cast Titans.

Group 11 secretary Ross McDermott was delighted to have Bailey making the trip out west and said his stories are certain to entertain.

“He speaks really well and the NRL has kindly donated his services and he’s also decided to stay on Saturday and go to the junior league semi-finals,” McDermott said.

A number of awards will be given out on the night as the build-up continues towards grand final day, where Dubbo CYMS will meet the Forbes Magpies in the main game. Both clubs are sure to have players battling it out for major prizes but McDermott added there was more to the night than just the Player of the Year.

“The annual Player of the Year is one of the big ones while another really big one we’ve been pushing is the Volunteer of the Year,” he said.

“We’ve had nine good nominations from the clubs for people who do the work behind the scenes.

“(Group 11 president) Derrick Hoe has really been keen to acknowledge these people, who might not be the stars but clubs wouldn’t survive without them.

“There’s also the Referee’s Player of the Year so that will be interesting to see if it matches the other award and there will be the handing over of the Club Championship too.”

While the Player of the Year prizes are wide open, CYMS is a certainty to win the Club Championship after winning minor premierships in three of the four grades this season.

The Presentation Night will be held at Dubbo RSL.