The South Dubbo Oval was buzzing with excitement on Saturday morning in anticipation for hosting Dubbo’s first pre-season carnival against the Gunnedah Bulldogs and the Parkes Panthers.

With a field in such prime condition that it could easily rival that of the MCG, and a willing team of volunteers, the Dubbo Demons were well prepared to show the travelling teams the ultimate hospitality and appreciation for making the journey across to take on our men’s and women’s teams.

The first match between the Lady Demons and the Gunnedah Poochettes began with some hotly-contested football and both teams eager to put into practice skills they had been working on at training.

The away team were hard at the ball from the first bounce and put the pressure on the Demons, but the Lady Dees were working hard to lock the ball in the forward 50 and give their forwards plenty of opportunities in front of goal.

The first half ended in some friendly fire with Keeghan Tucker taking aim at a ball out of the air in hope of a vote for Goal Of The Year, only for it to launch straight into the midriff of Kaitlyn “Speedy” Waldie and take the wind out of her sails prior to the half-time break.

The Demons were playing some great football across the field with youth girls Becky Dee, Em Fairman, Orlagh Quigley and Dakota Ryan rising to the occasion of playing in the senior women’s team and relishing their opportunity.

The Demons ran away with the victory in a great team effort against the Poochettes to ignite the 2025 season in red-hot form.

The men’s match between the Demons and Bulldogs was played out in great spirit. The Demons boys had been having some great numbers at training and so they were keen to be out and about on the field.

Jamie “Toyto” Toynton was working hard and provided entertainment, even starting a little tussle with his own teammates. The supporters on the sidelines were enjoying the display and there was a great deal of support along with some sledges flying around the ground.

In the next two women’s games, girls from Dubbo, Gunnedah and Parkes banded together to fill teams, with many players ending up running out three matches for the day and some wearing all three jerseys over the course of the carnival.

The Parkes side welcomed back Trudy Sloane, Cassandra “Tiny” Kelly and Renee Black from retirement to pull on the boots for the Panthers. Larissa Connolly was doing her best to sledge any Demon kicking the ball in the hope that they might believe that they were kicking the ball the wrong way!

Although the Dubbo Demons men's team seemed to be more invested in cheering on the Bulldogs and Panthers in their match from the sideline, they swung back into action for the final match of the day against the Panthers.

Some brilliant football skills were on display with Joey Hedger replicating Izak Rankine’s bid for AFL Goal Of The Year in a running goal from the boundary line, conveniently right in front of the home crowd.

An overwhelming success for the first pre-season carnival, the Dubbo Demons greatly appreciate the efforts of the Gunnedah and Parkes teams in travelling across to Dubbo for a magnificent day of football played in good spirits.

The Demons thank all of the helpers throughout the day and everyone who came along to show their support. We look forward to a few weeks of recovery for all of those sore first game muscles, and then we’ll be ready to swing back into action for the first minor round game in Orange against the Tigers on May 3.

Keep an eye on Dubbo Photo News for more details to come for the first home game on May 10. Go Demons!