Sam Simmons is used to long car trips but the second round of the Peter McDonald Premiership will be something else entirely.
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The Bourke resident will clock up 1242 kilometres when his Nyngan Tigers travel to face Lithgow Workies on Saturday, May 4.
It's the longest journey a team will make in NSW country rugby league, followed closely by Cobar Roosters and Gulgong Terriers in Castlereagh League.
Having called the Tigers home for a decade, he clearly doesn't mind long car rides. It takes two hours each way just to reach Larkin Oval.
He was nonplussed when asked how he would handle the 12 hours he would spend on the road on the weekend.
"I've been doing it for a little while," he said.
"We'll stay in Dubbo on Friday night and head through to Lithgow on Saturday morning then probably drive back after the game back to Bourke.
"This is my 10th year going to Nyngan so I've been doing it for a long time.
"I'd say the league tag girls will probably be starting early. I'd say a lot of people stay in Dubbo and Orange the night before."
'Hopefully it's not cold'
When Group 10 and 11 voted to join forces in 2022 and create the Peter McDonald Premiership, the Nyngan-Lithgow trip was always the elephant in the room.
A huge 417 km separate the towns and while the conference system meant they could avoid playing each other for the first two years, a combined ladder now means they have to meet.
Initially the plan was to decide on a neutral location, most likely Orange, but weeks out from the season Nyngan offered to make to voyage east, on the proviso Workies return the favour in 2025.
Simmons said the club was actually looking forward to the clash, something he may not have stated if the match was in the depth of winter an the infamously Arctic Tony Luchetti Sportsground.
"Lithgow's definitely the furthest but you just turn up and you get used to doing the miles," he said.
"It's obviously a long way, but everyone's excited to get down there and play some good footy.
"Hopefully it's not too cold."
Good 'vibes' in Tigertown
Nyngan lost their opening match against Wellington Cowboys on Sunday (April 28) with a double from last-minute addition Blake Ferguson sealing a 34-22 win.
Simmons said the group was feeling positive about improving on their fourth-placed finish in 2023 although challenged his teammates to be more careful with the ball this week.
"The vibe at Nyngan is good this year," he said.
"We've got a good young bunch of boys and we'll go quite well this year.
"Jak Jeffrey's playing good, Jacob Neill's playing good.
"We've got a core bunch with some good young footballers around.
"It was no shock to us [2023 result]. We obviously back our ability at Nyngan. We know we've got a good core bunch of boys that can get the job done.
"I think we just need to hold on to the ball this week and we'll be right. We made some mistakes in some crucial areas and this week I think if we fix them up we'll be pretty good."
