TODD Barrow made the move from Orange Hawks to Parkes this year in an effort to help his good mate Pat Rosser win back-to-back Group 11 premierships.
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And while that plan fell one step short he believes he will be leaving the club in a strong position to contend again in 2015.
Barrow was a tower of strength in the Spacemen’s 34-20 loss to Dubbo CYMS in Sunday’s grand final, in what was his last game for the club.
He will return to Group 10 circles in 2015 after accepting a two-season captain-coaching role with Bathurst Panthers.
Despite only being with Parkes for one season he said he will leave the club with fond memories.
“I’ve signed on to captain-coach Bathurst Panthers next year so this was really my one shot with Parkes, so it’s disappointing that we fell at that final hurdle,” Barrow said.
“We just made too many mistakes [on Sunday] but it’s been a great year. I knew a few of the boys at the club from playing rep footy with them and everyone has made me feel so welcome.
“I’m good mates with Patty and I’ve been involved with Dennis (Moran) at rep and I knew when I joined them that they’d won the competition last year.
“We had some injury problems all year really and most people wrote us off, but to come from where we were, in fifth spot heading into the finals, and get into a grand final shows what the club is about.
“I love the club, and even though I’m leaving I gave it 100 per cent to try and win a comp for these boys and all the supporters as well.”
While Barrow’s focus will turn to helping Panthers return to the upper echelon of the Group 10 competition he said he believes Parkes are well-placed to be competitive again in 2015.
“They’ve been a strong club for a few years now, and there’s a lot of good people in the club,” he said.
“There’s good kids coming through and they have some quality, experienced players leading the way so I don’t see why they won’t be up there again next year.”