Forbes coach Hare Lavaka was done. Another premiership in the bag.

Gun halfback Mahe Fangupo was headed for the departures lounge as well. His finals series one for the ages.

The retirements of a host of long-time Forbes rugby union players all rubber stamped, too. There’s nothing better than going out a winner, right?

But somewhere in the midst of premiership celebrations and the high of the club’s first grand final victory since 2003, someone quipped:

“How good would it be to have a crack at going back-to-back?”

Silence.

Then laughter.

“We all had a pretty good laugh at that,” Forbes Platypi president Tracey Prior said looking back at the club’s silly Sunday September last year.

“But somewhere along the line it’s been taken seriously and we’ll start the season with a stronger side than we did in (round one) 2017.

“In years gone by, that’s what happened … guys would retire or move on after winning. But we’ve got just about everyone back.”

As ominous as a full-strength Forbes is for the rest of the new-look Central West Rugby Union top tier, it’s a mouth-watering prospect for the rest of us.

The smartest maestro in country rugby working off the back of the toughest pack in the region – it’s a recipe for another crown.

Nedd Brockmann and Jeff Stewart look to be the club’s only absentees for 2018, meaning chemistry heading into round one’s blockbuster with the Roos and Dubbo won't be a problem.

Hard-running No.8 Matt Coles will line-up for the start of the season, too, a luxury the club hasn’t enjoyed in either of its 2016 or 2017 campaigns.

Prior says Forbes will need to hit the ground running in order to ensure the club’s premiership defence starts on a positive note.

After the Dubbo road trip, Forbes hosts Orange City before back-to-back trips to Bathurst and then Orange, the latter the competition’s first grand final rematch against Emus.

It’s not a great draw for the defending premiers.

But in the new, six-team top tier, every game’s a tough one, according to Prior.

“It’s going to be an interesting change,” she said, the competition dropping from 10 teams to six in 2018.

“There’s not a weekend where you can take it easy. There were times when we knew we could rest players last year. The way this comp is structured, you don’t get that anymore.

”It’s going to be a hard slog with the level of competition. But everyone is in the same boat.”

Official Platypi training starts next week at Grinsted Oval, but Prior says a host of the club’s squad has already begun training individually.

That includes colts players too, which is a positive after there were concerns Forbes wouldn’t field an under 20s side in 2018.

Prior is confident, as hard as it will be, the Platypi will field three grades this season.

“It’s a battle every year. That’s not new. Raising the age doesn’t make it any easier for us,” she said.

The club will likely draw from some of its players from last season, as well as kids playing rugby league with the Magpies on a Sunday.

“That’s what small towns do. We’ll work together.”