Dubbo CYMS league tag will meet Parkes Spacecats in the Western Premiership

CYMS will hit the road on Saturday to face the Parkes Spacecats, a match between the leading two Group 11 sides to take place at Pioneer Oval.

Only Bathurst St Pat's and Orange CYMS sit undefeated alongside Dubbo CYMS and Parkes through the opening three rounds.

But for Dubbo CYMS' Nic Grose, she is confident the side has yet to be really pushed to its limits.

"I think it will be a tough one, to be fair without being arrogant we haven't been tested too much yet," she said.

"So Parkes is going to be our first big test for the season, I feel like a Saturday at their home ground is always an advantage.

"But I'll always back our girls, we've got a good foundation coming through which is making team selection quite difficult actually."

Parkes and Dubbo CYMS have enjoyed a bit of a rivalry over the past few seasons in the Group 11 tag competition, the two clubs met in the 2016 grand final, a match which the Spacecats won before CYMS got their revenge the following year.

The return of Michael Dumesny to Parkes' coaching ranks has been a big boost for the Spacecats with the premiership-winner having his side playing excellent football so far this season.

For CYMS, Grose knows they will respect whoever they play, regardless of their form leading into the match.

"It doesn't matter what team we play against, we never go into the game thinking we are going to win easily," she said.

"Definitely against a side like Parkes who have been in the top four or top two every season, it's a testament to them.

"Credit where it's due, we do step it up when we play those tougher teams.

"I think the girls are really excited for the weekend."

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Most of the team enjoyed last weekend off due to the representative round but several of the squad's core group played for Group 11 at Blayney, with co-coach Maddi Drew the star.

Drew's player of the match performance helped lead Group 11 to a close win and Grose admitted she was happy to see CYMS well represented.

"We had six players I think in the rep team, they could have picked any of our players to play and they would've stood out in that game," she said.

"Maddi is obviously a superstar with league tag but has also come back from playing for Australia in touch footy.

"I wasn't there but I'm sure her Player of the Match award was well deserved, she's quality and it's good to be helping her out with coaching."

A match against Parkes has been the norm for CYMS over the past few seasons but in 2023, league tag joined the other senior competitions in becoming Western-wide, meaning clubs from Group 11 and Group 10 will play each other.

As someone who has returned to the CYMS set-up this season, Grose is all for the new concept.

"I think it's exciting, it's different and adds an element of surprise," she said.

"It's not great for travel particularly for those Lithgow through to Nyngan kind of things but I don't know if they will meet halfway.

"There's that sort of thing with travel but it's what you get when you live in the country."

The league tag match will begin at 12pm on Saturday.

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