A Tooheys New Group 11 premiership would be the perfect homecoming for Parkes centre Alexander Peden.
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Zander, as he is known by his mates, returned to Parkes in June after “rediscovering” his love of rugby league in Europe.
Coming from a predominantly rugby union background, the stocky, hard-running 23-year-old has been one of the buys of the season for the Spacemen and will once again be looking to muscle up when they take on Dubbo CYMS in Sunday’s grand final at Apex Oval.
“I was playing rugby union for Luton overseas and then decided to switch to rugby league and played the last two seasons for the Bedford Tigers,” Peden said.
“I got a love for league again and I thought what better place to play than home?
“I arrived and signed up about a week before the June 30 deadline.
“It’s been good fun and now just looking forward to a big game on the weekend.”
Peden finished Year 12 at Parkes High School during which time he played under-18s for the Spacemen and was selected for the Combined High Schools 2nd XV for rugby union.
For the next two years he was a member of the ACT Brumbies Academy and played for the Australian Under-19 rugby side.
He then moved to Perth where he was part of the Western Force Super 14 squad before moving to Sydney where he played with West Harbour in the Tooheys New Shute Shield for one year and then headed overseas,
Peden received one of the biggest cheers at Apex Oval on Sunday when the flick passed on his way to the ground after making a break through the middle to send Marika Koroivui in for a try.
However, during the tackle he landed awkwardly on his shoulder and had to come from the field.
The game was already deep into the second half and the result was beyond doubt, but the fate of the big centre was not.
“The shoulder is coming good, just some muscle soreness and it will be fine for the weekend,” Peden said.
While a lot of the attention surrounding Parkes’ success has been aimed at Dennis Moran (19 tries) and the Fijian contingent including Semisi Tora (14) and Epi Neiyoko (13), the centres is where a lot of the damage has been done this season.
Peden has crossed 12 times from just 10 appearances, giving him a strike rate second only to Moran (13 games), while Brad Waser has 10 tries to his credit.
The showdown between Peden and Waser up against the CYMS combination of Kaine Ashby and Justin Yeo will be a cracker.
