IF anyone knows the perils and pitfalls Bathurst Panthers will face in Sunday’s Group 10 preliminary final, it’s Todd Barrow.
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The Orange product twice steered the men in black to within one game of the grand final in his three seasons as captain-coach at the club, only to fall short on both occasions.
He was watching on from Wade Park’s northern hill on Sunday as Panthers defeated defending premiers Orange CYMS 21-20 to earn a shot at the big dance for the third straight season.
And he saw something which has him believing Sunday’s clash with Orange Hawks can have a different outcome to his sides’ 2016 and 2017 last hurdle heartbreak.
“They’ve just got to keep lifting another peg,” Barrow said of his former charges, who defeated Oberon Tigers in the first week of the semi-finals.
“They’ve got nothing to lose. No one expects them to do it, but all of the boys in the dressing shed do.
“They’ve got the belief, and that’s all that matters.”
Barrow, whose brothers Jai and Kade Barrow combined on Panthers’ left flank well enough for Kade to cross twice on Saturday, laid the credit for the Bathurst side’s post-season charge at the feet of his successor.
Doug Hewitt took over the reins from Barrow at the start of the season, and the former Group 10 skipper said the young halfback had unlocked a drive within the team which had surprised many.
“At the start of the year they’d lost a fair few players, and everyone had written them off, and didn’t give them much hope,” Barrow said.
“Dougie’s got a good group there, a group that all wants to play for him, as you can tell from the way they scrambled [on Saturday].
“It’s all credit to Dougie.”
A hard-running lock forward who spent time in both Wests Tigers’ and Manly Sea Eagles’ systems, Barrow hung up his boots after last season’s preliminary final loss to Oberon.
Despite previous seasons in Orange Hawks’ colours, as well as a stint with Parkes Spacemen in Group 11 and an under 18s premiership with CYMS, his affinity with Panthers is strongest.
And, judging by his smile in the dressing sheds after Saturday’s last-gasp win, a great source of pride.
“It was a really tough win. To lose Dougie in that first five minutes, it was unbelievable,” Barrow said, referencing the Hewitt’s knee injury, which forced him from the field against CYMS.
“I’m so proud of all the boys.”
