Knockout connection
It's an obvious fact, but events like the Koori Knockout mean so much to so many.
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The bonds formed within those sides, most often because of a family connection and a connection to country, are often some of the strongest Indigenous players feel throughout their careers.
Knockout teammates coming together for a club side is nothing new but the effect it can have was on show again just this week.
Claude Gordon spoke about one of the main reasons he went to Dubbo CYMS this season was to play alongside Orana Goo-gars mate Alex Bonham again while the work of new halves pairing Rylee Blackhall and Jai Merritt is one of the big reasons Wellington has started the season in surprising fashion.
Merritt and Blackhall have played knockout footy together so it's been easy for them to quickly develop while at the same club together for the first time.
Both CYMS and Wellington are two-from-two and as other sides search for new combinations, knockout footy is helping them settle.
![Former CYMS and Burleigh prop Joe Duffy was a curious onlooker at the Parkes and Panthers clash at Molong on Saturday. Former CYMS and Burleigh prop Joe Duffy was a curious onlooker at the Parkes and Panthers clash at Molong on Saturday.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/GHcbaSNijNeVS4SULWDX8n/c1c581bc-0bd5-4ffa-881c-68e1827e60ae.jpg/r0_0_1020_573_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Spotted
Former Orange CYMS prop Joe Duffy was at The Rec at Molong on Saturday - an interesting onlooker considering the green and golds were playing at the same time up the road at Forbes.
CYMS is keen to relink with the ex-Burleigh prop for 2023, and he'd prove a more than handy addition. As a CYMS junior, he'd also be worth zero points on the club's cap.
With that in mind, it was interesting to spot him at a Panthers and Parkes clash.
Where Duffy, a powerhouse prop, lands in 2023 could have a huge impact on a number of teams' hopes for this season.
Spotted II
Raiders halfback Jamal Fogarty was an unexpected face in the crowd at Saturday's Panthers and Parkes clash in Molong.
The NRL gun was on the field at half-time kicking a ball with his kids, and at one point had to ask around the ground for a pump to breathe some more life into the old footy he had with him.
Fogarty and Parkes recruit Jack Buchanan played together for the Burleigh Bears in 2019 in the Intrust Super Cup in Queensland, winning the premiership that year. And the pair could be spotted together at the end of the match.
![Jack Buchanan and Jamal Fogarty at Molong on Saturday. Picture Jamal Fogarty Instagram Jack Buchanan and Jamal Fogarty at Molong on Saturday. Picture Jamal Fogarty Instagram](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/dCXpDgwTEgA52iNCe5aWtJ/6388c709-42d6-4fa0-bdd5-558ec66e7f9b.png/r67_0_1134_600_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
For the record, Buchanan was immense for his new club up front and will provide the Spacies with some size and experience through the middle of the field - something they've been lacking for a while.
'A legend' inspires a community
Wellington and rugby league has long gone hand-in-hand but the current Cowboys side is really emphasising it.
The Cowboys, tipped by nearly everyone to struggle again this season, shocked Bathurst St Pat's on Saturday to start the season with back-to-back wins.
While the results mean a lot, that's nothing compared to the community pride they're generating as well as the growing maturity being instilled in the club's young players by captain-coach and one of the most respected figures in bush footy, Justin Toomey-White.
The captain-coach has said he wants to make his players "better young men" and better members of the community.
Toomey-White couldn't stay and celebrate too much as he was on the road to Sydney on Saturday night ahead of a friend's wedding on Sunday but he was getting plenty of texts from people saying how proud they were of him and the Cowboys on the way.
![Jamal Fogarty was spotted at the Panthers versus Parkes clash in Molong. Jamal Fogarty was spotted at the Panthers versus Parkes clash in Molong.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/GHcbaSNijNeVS4SULWDX8n/56f07cef-cac6-468e-b5a4-c68b3c657cea.jpg/r0_0_1020_628_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
What the Cowboys are doing wasn't lost on beaten Pat's captain-coach Zac Merritt, either.
"Justin he's definitely motivating the boys and he's doing good things for the whole community, not just the footy club," Merritt said.
"He's really working hard to do something for the whole community and the young kids he's got are really buying into what he's trying to do there.
"I think they'll be competitive all year around, that's for sure. Justin, he's a legend."
Group chat lights up
A lot of the talk in the build-up to the Macquarie-Mudgee on Sunday was around representative forwards Jack Kavanagh and Clay Priest doing battle.
A pair known for being somewhat hot-headed on the footy field, the pair are two of the best forwards going around and were teammates for the Western Rams during the country championships earlier this year.
![Clay Priest didn't get to impact Sunday's match too much for Mudgee due to a worrying injury. Picture by Nick Guthrie Clay Priest didn't get to impact Sunday's match too much for Mudgee due to a worrying injury. Picture by Nick Guthrie](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/dCXpDgwTEgA52iNCe5aWtJ/8578f49c-462b-4b28-925d-ce320db0351f.JPG/r0_353_4288_2850_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Word is there was plenty of banter in the Rams group chat during the lead-up to Sunday's match, which Priest and the Dragons won by two points.
The pair didn't get the chance to collide too much as Priest left the field in the first half with a knee injury which will require scans this week.
"I've got a lot of respect for Kav, he's a quality player," Priest said at full-time on Sunday.
"She's all a bit of fun and a bit of chat. We didn't really get into it today but it's just all a bit of chat."
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