Peter McDonald Premiership 2023: Dubbo CYMS' Ben Marlin played a big role in Chanse Burgess arriving

A simple two-word reply to a text message was all Dubbo CYMS lock Ben Marlin needed to convince Chanse Burgess to join the club for 2023.

Fast forward to Sunday and the pair were embracing after the Fishies took out the Peter McDonald Premiership by defeating Mudgee.

"He texted me in November last year and asked 'should I come to CYMS?", Marlin said.

"I just said 'winners win' and he came."

Burgess wasted no time getting stuck in at his new club, scoring three tries in his first game and he admitted Marlin's reply to his original text message was easy to believe.

"He always told me if you want to win you just win," he said.

"Every one of these boys believes that, they have been in that many grand finals so it is hard to not believe them."

A former Mudgee Dragon, Burgess returned to the pack for Sunday's match after being suspended for six matches following being cited with a grade two unnecessary contact/heavy contact against Wellington.

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Since his suspension, five games had passed before CYMS were successfully able to downgrade the decision, allowing their recruit to play in the grand final.

Having starred at lock for the Fishies when available, the grand final winner confessed he didn't think he would be able to run out in the big one.

"I was gutted, I'm very fortunate to get back and play in the grand final," he said.

"Not just that but to have a spot to come back into, it meant the world to me. I'm just so happy we were able to get the job done for the boys."

Not only was Sunday special for Dubbo CYMS, but the Burgess family also had a nice moment.

For the second time this season, brothers Chanse and Casey Burgess lined up opposite each other.

Once again, it was Chanse who came away with bragging rights as CYMS triumphed.

Burgess and fellow grand final inclusion Billy Sing showed no signs of rust on their respective edges during the win.

But for Burgess, his versatility was put on display late in the game when Claude Gordon left the field with a quad cork.

Add in an injury to Alex Bonham in the first half and CYMS were down to just 15 players, forcing their big forward to play a bit out of position.

"I haven't played since the start of July so I am a bit gassed," he said.

"They put me on an edge and I ended the game at five-eighth, I was just trying to get the job done at the end. There wasn't a lot of footy coming out my side."

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