Forbes Magpies have been to Dubbo three times since 2016 for local rugby league deciders, twice taking the old Group 11 trophy back home down the Newell Highway in 2016 and 2018, as well as winning the first Peter McDonald Premiership in 2022.

That statistic will be motivation enough for Dubbo CYMS, who hosted deciders in 2022 and 2023, and have bagged a swag of other titles down through the years.

This match could well be the swansong for many of the Fishies favourites as well, with Ben Marlin having already given notice he won’t be back next year. In fact he may not even take the field on Sunday, after suffering a serious knee injury in the last month of the season.

Others like Billy Sing, Jarryn Powyer, Jyie Chapman, and Alex Bonham, who’ve provided the steel in the Fishies’ amazing run, are yet to make their positions known, but a win in the big one might just be the tipping point. What a brilliant end to their careers it would be, if that proves case.

As many of these more experienced players look like moving on, this only opens the door for a seemingly endless pool of “Fishlings” to emerge.

Already this season, former junior, Zac Wiliams, has claimed his place, scoring the first try in last week’s shut-out of Orange CYMS. Bayden Searle is a young veteran who returned to the club to combine with Claude Gordon in the halves, with another returnee, Jordan Reynolds, also picked-up where he left off, tackling everything that moved.

Perennial try-scorer, Jeremy Thurston, and flying wingers Vuniani Gatabua and Ratu Roko, are as dangerous back three as any in the comp while the bench, which includes prop Jack Quinn, workhorse backrower Jarrod Spicer and the fleet-footed Troyden Dixon, gives coach Shawn Townsend plenty of options.

Perhaps the biggest building blocks for CYMS lie in two brothers from Coonamble – the versatile Mitch Cleary who was named Peter McDonald Premiership Player of the Year at last week’s Presentation Night, and sibling prop. Jaymen. These two powerhouses know there’s only one pace and one direction to play football, fast and forward!

Although it is not certain which other player will come from the sidelines in the big one, the tough-as-teak Ben Marlin, or emerging ball-player and robust former Wellington Cowboy, Sean Stanley Jnr, there is plenty to get the green-and-white fans excited.

Forbes mixture of local products, plus the inclusion of a couple of brothers who have jumped over from Parkes, has them keen to add to their inaugural Peter McDonald Cup from 2022.

Cameron Greenhalgh is back at the helm and, with son Nick at half and captain, there is three premierships worth of ingenuity on which to draw.

Centre Mitch Andrews was player of the match in the 2022 decider, Farren Lamb is back in the centres to hopefully inflict more pain after his desperate last-minute field goal broke the deadlock in 2018, and the Hartwig brothers bleed black-and-white.

Charlie Lennon, Traie Merritt, and replacement Ben Maguire, absolutely monstered the CYMS pack in the last grand final and, with young guns Harrison Leadbitter, Mick Coady, (ex-Cowra) and Aaron Mawhinney, who are all Magpie juniors and have played in the NRL development programs, there is plenty to like about the Magpies.

Hooker Hayden Bolam was also a standout in 2018, scoring a try in their upset win. His return from Bathurst sets up a fascinating battle with CYMS dynamic No 9 Alex Bonham.

Get in early for some great clashes in the build-up to this once-in-a-generation clash of the premiership heavy-weights.

Will it be green-and-white, or black-and-white? Fishies or Magpies? We’ll know the answer at around 5 o’clock on Sunday afternoon.

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Grand Final program

9.30am: Blues League Tag – Macquarie Raiders versus CYMS Fishies

10.50am: Tom Nelson Under 18s – CYMS versus Bathurst Panthers

12.20pm: Reserve Grade – Macquarie versus Nyngan Tigers

2.10pm: Women’s Tackle (inaugural) – Mudgee versus Wiradjuri

3pm: Peter McDonald Cup – CYMS versus Forbes

Presentations of trophies for the players of each grand final, as well as announcements on players of the year, will be interspersed between matches