Bailey Hartwig knows exactly what's he's in for this weekend.
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The Parkes Spacemen and Forbes Magpies will do battle in the annual long weekend derby battle and both sets of fans will have eyes on Hartwig.
The Western Rams back-rower made one of the biggest moves of the Group 11 off-season when he left Forbes for their fierce rivals up the Newell Highway.
As always, there will be a strong contingent of Forbes fans at Parkes' Pioneer Oval on Sunday and Hartwig isn't expecting the most friendly of receptions from those on 'Magpie Hill'.
"There's definitely going to be a bit of abuse," he said.
"That's always good though. I love it and the more they yell, the more I want to play better so I love that."
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The Hartwig name has been a common one through the years at both Forbes and Parkes in Group 11 and it will be on show on both sides again this weekend.
Bailey will line up in the second-row for Parkes while his younger brother Zeke will be in the centres for the Magpies.
"There's a good rivalry," Bailey said, before looking at the battle with his brother.
"I'll definitely try to give it to him, 100 per cent.
"It's all good though and I'll try and kill him on the field but when we come off I still love him."
While Bailey could have spent another season at Forbes and played with his brother in first grade, the chance to play with mates who he grew up with led him to the Spacemen.
As a student at Red Bend he was best mates with the son of long-serving Parkes player and committee man Paul Clyburn while he has a family connection to the Spacemen as well.
Hartwig's father, Mark, and his uncle Neil both played for Parkes in the past and their opinion was key when the decision to make the high-profile switch was being mulled over during the summer.
We're sitting about fifth so we've got to win as many as we can from this point on.
- Bailey Hartwig
"It was pretty easy. I really just asked those two and they said they'd back me if I went over there and that's how I made the decision," Hartwig said.
Hartwig is now "loving it" at Parkes and is eager to help the Spacemen build on last weekend's hugely impressive win at Dubbo over Macquarie.
Injuries have been a massive issue for Parkes coach Brent Wood early in the season, with Hartwig one of only a handful of players who's been on deck each week, but the 34-18 win over the Raiders was the side's best performance of the season.
"When you've got your full team there you can build the combinations but we haven't had that yet but our performance at Macquarie was unreal," Hartwig said.
"They really only had Alex Ronayne out and we had seven of our starting side out."
The long weekend battle between the Spacemen and Magpies at Parkes is one of the best fixtures on the Group 11 calendar and nothing points to that changing on Sunday.
Parkes has plenty of motivation to build on last weekend's win while Forbes scored it's long-awaited first victory of the season last time out but the Magpies still remain outside the competition's top five.
"We're sitting about fifth so we've got to win as many as we can from this point on," Hartwig said.
"It's massive because Forbes is chasing us and they've got win a couple of consecutive games as well."
The win over Macquarie last weekend was Parkes' second after an earlier victory over Narromine.
The Spacemen sit fourth and while they are likely to welcome halfback Chad Porter from injury but fullback Sam Dwyer is unlikely to make his first appearance of the season.
Hartwig believes his side can be a genuine premiership threat once it gets all his players on deck but until then he said the biggest thing for his side is fairly simple.
"Just holding the ball," he said of the key.
"We've shown we can attack any side, even CYMS in round one.
"But we can turn it over in our half and that makes it hard. I don't care who you are in Group 11, if you're defending on your line for four or five sets you're going to crack."
Sunday's match is scheduled to kick-off at 2.30pm.
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Nick Guthrie
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
I started working at the Daily Liberal in 2013 and now hold the position of senior journalist. I cover all that's happening in sport in Dubbo and the wider western area and have a passion for doing so. If you've got a story that needs telling, reach out.
