From yellow cards to grand final wins: Our top sporting matches of 2022

Grand final upsets, sin-binned players and narrow losses might still be hurting some sides as the new year rolls around.

After keeping an eye on all things sport throughout 2022, we've tried to narrow down what we felt were the best matches across the codes during the year.

What a place to start.

Forbes' victory over Dubbo CYMS at Apex Oval will go down history. Not only because it was the first ever Peter McDonald Premiership decider but due to the way the Magpies won.

The Magpies produced what we felt was a near-perfect performance against a Dubbo CYMS side who had only lost one match all season.

Mitch Andrews, Jake Grace and Nick Greenhalgh were all brilliant in what is likely to be coach Cameron Greenhalgh's final time in charge.

The most chaotic game of the season had it all at Cale Oval.

Four yellow cards and one red card to the Rhinos couldn't stop them from holding on for a 23-21 victory over a gritty Gorillas side.

"We spent 55 minutes with 13 or 14 players on the field and you're not going to win a competition with that." Sandry said at the time.

The reign of Central West in the Thomson Cup will on for another year after the Blue Bullettes showed everyone that they're still the queens of the state in a 23-0 win over Central North in the NSW Country Rugby Union Championships final.

The Bullettes completed a three-peat at the Tamworth tournament, once again going through undefeated on their path towards the title.

After several seasons finishing second to the Bulldogs, 2022 was the year Dubbo finally broke through to take out the Ferugson Cup.

Lead around the park by skipper Janalee Conroy, the Roolettes won 15-7 in a game which was truely a war between the competition's two best sides over the last four years.

"We weren't letting them get in, we weren't going to let them in this time," Conroy said of her side's defence after the win.

They may have lost the grand final but the Demons Women's side held their heads high after ending the Giants' three-year unbeaten run in May.

The Demons hosted the Giants at South Dubbo Oval and it was the former who came away with 5.3.33 to 4.4.28 win to give the visitors their first loss since 2019.

Star midfielder Em Warner was named best on ground as the Demons and Giants both donned their Indigenous jerseys for Sir Doug Nicholls round.

Never count Forbes Magpies out.

Orange CYMS went into the half time break in the Peter McDonald Premiership grand final decider with a 22-point lead over their Group 11 hosts before the Magpies fired back late to take a 40-30 win.

"I'm lost for words right now. It's unbelievable," captain Nick Greenhalgh said after the emphatic comeback.

"That crowd in that back corner just got us home I think, it was unbelievable."

Having finished last in the past four RSL Whitney Cup seasons, South Dubbo produced one of the finest performances in the club's recent history to defeat competition heavyweights RSL Colts.

The Souths side largely made up of teenagers went on to win a thrilling one-day match with two balls to spare, completing a top weekend for the side after a seven-run win over Rugby in the MoneyQuest Megahit on Friday night for their first victories in more than 18 months.

The Cowboys delighted the Wellington faithful in their final home game for 2022, downing the Nyngan Tigers 38-20 to record their first win of the season.

While it may look like just an ordinary win, Cowboys captain-coach Justin Toomey-White made it his mission to keep Nyngan's heads high after heading into their change rooms after the match.

Both small town but proud clubs, 2022 was a struggle for the pair but Toomey-White made it his job to tell Nyngan told hold their heads high after dealing with notable injuries and suspensions during the season.

In one of the most successful decider days enjoyed by any club in some time, Macquarie United played in six grand finals at the Lady Cutler fields and won four of them.

The highlight was a fifth successive premiership for the women's first grade side while the men's first grade side was also crowned champions to complete a special double.

"It's huge," Macquarie United president Rhys Osborne said.

"We didn't enter a team in women's third division this year but we were in grand finals in every division we were in. That's a huge achievement for the club, players and coaches."

In arguably their best performance of the 2022 season, the Dubbo Demons Men's Tier 1 side pushed the eventual premiers right until the end and almost came away with an unlikely win.

Playing at their beloved South Dubbo Oval, the Demons led by 14 points heading into the final quarter before a later goal sealed the win for the Bushrangers, a side who went onto finish the season undefeated.

It was an up and down year for the Demons but their performance against the Bushrangers proved the club isn't far away from returning to the top.

With a finals spot on the line for the victor, no one could have predicted this final round clash would be decided after the siren.

Down 19 points with little over 20 minutes left, the Dubbo Kangaroos kept their Blowes Cup season alive after defeating Forbes.

A handful of late tries and a missed penalty goal after the siren were enough to give Dubbo the win at No.1 Oval to advance into the finals.

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