The Parkes Rugby League Football Club (nicknamed the Spacemen) is a

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

club that plays in Group 11. The Spacemen gained media attention when they recruited a number of

Fiji national rugby league team The Fiji national rugby league team, nicknamed the Bati (pronounced ), has been participating in international rugby league football since 1992. The team is controlled by the governing body for rugby league in Fiji, Fiji National Rugby League (FNR ...

players prior to the

2008 Rugby League World Cup The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since its inauguration in 1954, and the first since the 2000 tournament. The tournament was held in Australia from 26 October, culminating in the final b ...

Nickname

Parkes Parkes may refer to: * Sir Henry Parkes (1815–1896), Australian politician, one of the earliest and most prominent advocates for Australian federation Named for Henry Parkes * Parkes, New South Wales, a regional town * Parkes Observatory, a radi ...

is a regional town of nearly ten thousand people located near the middle of

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, with its economy based on farming and mining. It is also the location of the

Parkes Observatory Parkes Observatory is a radio astronomy observatory, located north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. It hosts Murriyang, the 64 m CSIRO Parkes Radio Telescope also known as "The Dish", along with two smaller radio telescopes. T ...

Radio Telescope A radio telescope is a specialized antenna and radio receiver used to detect radio waves from astronomical radio sources in the sky. Radio telescopes are the main observing instrument used in radio astronomy, which studies the radio frequency ...

, from which the Spacemen took their nickname. The name was also recognised during the 100 year celebrations of rugby league by being listed in the article 100 Reasons Why People Love Rugby League, which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Media attention

The Spacemen were simply a struggling regional club before circumstances brought media attention. The Spacemen advertised for players; at the same time, Fijian rugby league players sought to join a New South Wales club in preparation for the

. These

players included Alipate Noilea, Semisi Tora and

Ilisoni Vonomateiratu Ilisoni Vonomateiratu is a professional rugby league footballer. He is a Fiji national rugby league team, Fijian international. References External linksFiji v France: Teams
1981 births Living people Fijian rugby league players Fiji na ...

. Local media closely followed the 2008 Rugby League World Cup progress of the Fijian National team and its Spacemen, culminating in their defeat by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

in the second semi-final. By this time national and international media had picked up the story.

Notable Juniors

* Billy Burns (2019-21

Penrith Panthers The Penrith Panthers are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the western Sydney suburb of Penrith that competes in the NRL. The team is based west of the centre of Sydney, at the foot of the Blue Mountains. Penrith ...

) (2021-

St George Illawarra Dragons The St. George Illawarra Dragons is an Australian professional rugby league football club, representing both the Illawarra and St George regions of New South Wales. The club has competed in the National Rugby League since 1999 after a joint- ...

) *

Darby Medlyn Darby Medlyn (born 7 November 1999) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a for the Canberra Raiders in the NRL. Career 2020 Medlyn made his first grade debut in round 20 of the 2020 NRL season for Canberra against the Cron ...

(2020-

Canberra Raiders The Canberra Raiders are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the national capital city of Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. They have competed in Australasia's elite rugby league competition, the National Rugby ...

)

References

{{reflist Rugby league teams in New South Wales Parkes Shire