Peter McDonald Premiership Column: Orange CYMS' Cam Jones isn't the stereotypical front-rower

Most props shirk warm-up duties. You can often find them conveniently battling to get their socks on in the sheds, or tucking into a pie in the canteen instead.

Cam Jones is not one of those props though.

Also CYMS' president, Jones took it upon himself to help out the club's reserve grade side at Cowra on Saturday.

He ran out mid-way through the first half and then played the bulk of the rest of the game - the under-manned CYMS coming out on top against the Magpies.

And then Jones ran out for first grade too, to do it all again.

Again, CYMS came out on top in a gruelling clash against a very strong Magpies side, 16-14.

Not the fittest, not the fastest and certainly not the biggest, Jones is undoubtedly the most dedicated.

The man's a warhorse, and Saturday's effort is just another example of that club-first mentality so many at CYMS see on a regular basis.

They might be sitting on the bottom of the Group 10 pool, but Cowra Magpies and Lithgow Workies Wolves are more than capable of making a late charge in the Peter McDonald Premiership.

With Cowra coming off a 64-10 defeat to Bathurst Panthers in round six and Mudgee winning 54-6 against Lithgow, you would be forgiven for thinking both clubs round seven fixtures were a foregone conclusion.

However, Lithgow more than muscled up against Hawks and Cowra took it to competition leaders Orange CYMS.

Lithgow showed against Orange CYMS in round five that with a close to full strength side they're going to be hard to beat as it went hard against the home team in a 22-12 defeat.

Even CYMS captain-coach Daniel Mortimer admitted: "I don't know how Lithgow haven't won yet, they were impressive up the middle."

Halfback Hayden Bonanno was outstanding for the Wolves on Sunday against Orange Hawks and with SG Ball winning fullback Sam Lane in his second game of the season for Lithgow, their combination will only get better.

After being put on report and sin-binned late in the game, captain-coach Greg Alderson may have a visit to the judiciary ahead but it'd be disappointing to see him out for a crucial clash at home against Bathurst St Pat's this weekend.

Lithgow aren't short of depth either, currently sitting second in Group 10 reserve grade.

Now, onto Cowra.

After running onto the field early in the season with Manu Katoa, Jack Buchanan and Warren Williams, the Magpies had three of its best absent on Saturday - as they have for the past few rounds.

But fear not, Cowra went close to one of the biggest upsets of the Peter McDonald Premiership in a 16-14 loss.

The Magpies form has been patchy at best this season, going win, loss, loss, win, loss, loss.

Its biggest performance came against Bathurst St Pat's in round four with a 34-22 victory at Bathurst.

To take on the competition heavyweights in Orange CYMS and go so close, shows the nucleus for a top side is there at Cowra, it's just a matter of getting its full strength team on the field.

Last week this column discussed the gap between Bathurst Panthers' Desmond Doolan and the rest when it comes to the leading try-scorers list.

Dubbo CYMS' Jeremy Thurston was mentioned as a threat, especially with his form at home.

Well, the centre was at his best yet again at Apex Oval on Sunday as CYMS defeated Nyngan Tigers 38-12.

Thurston, known as 'Jez', crossed for a double to take his tally at home to seven tries in three games, overall he's scored eight this season.

With star centre Jyie Chapman out, Thurston and his other three-quarter partner, Brydon Ramien, needed to step up and that they did with the latter also going over for two.

While Thurston closed the gap ever so slightly on Doolan, the Panthers winger kept it to four ahead after going over for a try yet again against Bathurst St Pat's.

NSW Country representative, Mitchell Andrews, also stamped his credentials on the weekend, scoring a double for Forbes in its win over Wellington. Andrew sits third on the list at seven.

There's been plenty of discussion made about Parkes Spaceman's style of footy.

The Spaceman are yet to play in Group 10 territory, so not many of us have had the privilege of watching the creative tactics, like short kick-offs, implemented by captain-coach Jack Creith that sound incredibly similar to what Shane and Ben Walker did at the Ipswich Jets.

For a while there it was looking like it may not pay off but Parkes' 36-22 win over Macquarie Raiders on Sunday may indicate that the tide has turned.

Parkes will be in Orange on July 10, playing against Hawks.

To make matters even more interesting, Hawks captain Alex Prout will be playing against his old side for the first time, apart from a pre-season trial.

To read more stories, download the Central Western Daily news app in the Apple Store or Google Play.