Tears, smiles and hugs were shared as the visiting side made their way into the change rooms after losing their Peter McDonald Premiership final to Dubbo CYMS.

On a hot day in Dubbo, several of the Parkes forwards were exhausted and understandably so.

One man who gave it his all was their captain-coach Chad Porter with the star halfback's first season at the helm of his beloved club coming to an end.

"I thought it was good, I had a few boys to lean on," he said of the season.

"'Bucky' (Jack Buchanan), my brother Jake and Will (Wardle) it was good to have those older ones to lean on.

"I thought we went pretty well, it would have been nice to make the grand final in my first year."

Parkes' 2023 season was yet another step forward for the group after they made it to only week two of the finals last year.

The side was only minutes away from defeating Mudgee back in week one of the finals, before overcoming Wellington before the Dubbo CYMS match.

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Notorious fast-starters, Parkes blew CYMS out of the water earlier in the season in their win over the Fishies.

The likes of Will Wardle, Jack Buchanan and Porter all dominated at different times while there were some handy additions to the team as well.

Takitau Mapapalangi was one of the best props this season while Rex Yallon impressed in the forwards as well.

Before his injury earlier in the year, Jake Dooley was flying at fullback at looked at home with his new club.

Dooley's leg injury on the June long weekend opened the door for local junior Sam Dwyer to come back to play the back end of the season, with the fullback scoring a hat-trick on Sunday.

It's not just the club's first grade side who have impressed this season.

The other three grades also made it to finals as well, something which puts the Spacies in good stead heading into 2023.

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