BATHURST Panthers versus Lithgow Wolves - there was a time that they were the most anticipated games on the local rugby league calendar.
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For three consecutive seasons between 2005-07 the Group 10 premier league grand final was a battle between Panthers and Wolves.
Now, as Panthers prepare to face Lithgow for the first time in the 2023 Peter McDonald Premiership, we take a look back at the years when Panthers and Wolves were the most feared.
In part two we do it through the eyes of captain-coach Dave Elvy.
When being hated was a compliment
BEING whacked by his rivals on the field and heckled by spectators off it - that is what Bathurst Panthers captain-coach Dave Elvy came to accept as the norm when playing against Lithgow.
The talented playmaker first linked with Bathurst Panthers midway through season 2002.
The following year he was offered the captain-coach role and Elvy went on to help Panthers become the first Group 10 premier league side since the Orange CYMS squads of 1987-88 to go back-to-back.
Those wins - a 10-4 extra-time triumph in 2006 and a 24-4 success in 2007 - both came against Lithgow.
"She was a fair rivalry there for a few years Panthers and Lithgow. We had some really good battles with Lithgow, obviously the three grand finals in a row show that," Elvy said.
"Whenever we played throughout those years it was tough, I even remember playing them in the knockout and there was a fierce rivalry there because you wanted that competitive edge, they were the team you wanted to beat.
"Going to Lithgow was generally cold and miserable ... it was always a tough place to go to, let alone them being a super strong team.
"The crowd done there was always really hostile towards me which added to the atmosphere I guess. There was definitely a target on me, but you had to take it as a compliment so it wouldn't get to you."
While Elvy was a man Lithgow fans loved to hate, he had immense respect for those Wolves he called rivals.
From Lithgow coach Mick Rushworth, to their forward pack led by Kip Maranda, to the Van Veen brothers and Brett Ranse, Elvy saw talent across the board.
"Mick Rushworth was a really good coach out there and had some success," he said.
"Me and Mick became pretty good mates, we did a little bit together with Group 10 teams. So even though there was that rivalry, we ended up helping each other out years after with a bit of rep football and different things.
"He was a really good coach and they were also a really good team talent-wise and they were also pretty intimidating at times physically.
"All the grand finals were crackers, they were all physical, they were both pretty quality teams going at it."
When emotions boiled over on grand final day
THE 2005 and 2006 Group 10 grand finals between Lithgow and Panthers at Tony Luchetti Sportsground were two of the most physical and emotional deciders witnessed in modern times.
Those emotions at times boiled over - both in terms of players and spectators.
In 2005 the game was called early when supporters invaded the field and a touch judge was threatened.
"There was a big brawl in that one with touch judges and spectators coming onto the field, that was a wild grand final. It created a few rule changes," Elvy said.
At that stage Lithgow was well on top and declared 19-4 winners.
Then in the 2006 grand final, 34 minutes into the game with the two sides locked at 4-all, players from both sides became embroiled in a brawl.
It began when Panthers winger Brett Harvey and Lithgow front rower Kip Maranda exchanged blows. Both were sin-binned.
"I remember both of them having a bit of a scuffle and both getting binned. The enforcer of the Lithgow team in Kip Maranda, he led their pack, then a little winger in 'Choc' Harvey," Elvy said.
"The environment he was in the adrenalin was pumping and he stood up for himself against Kip. 'Choc' Harvey was only young then too, he was only just out of 18s and Kip was not just an enforcer for Lithgow, but the Group and Western Division."
Some 30 minutes later the Lithgow fans were vocal in their disappointment when Jonathan Van Veen plucked and intercept and ran 100 metres to ground the ball only to be declared offside.
"Did he call him offside because he ran the length of the field - who knows?," Rushworth said at the time. "The 10 metres was pretty short all game."
Had it been a try Lithgow would've had the lead. Instead the game went to extra-time and Panthers won 10-6.
The relief of going from bridesmaid to premiership winners
WHEN Dave Elvy got his hands on the premiership trophy after the extra-time win in the 2006 grand final, he hugged it.
After the heartbreak of losing 17-10 to Mudgee in the 2004 decider then falling 19-4 to Lithgow the following year, the leader was relieved.
"People can say you don't think of this and that, but the pressure was building and to win in extra-time was definitely a bit of weight off the back," he said.
"We had a reasonable side. In '04 when we got beat by Mudgee we had a try disallowed at 10-all and it all fell away from us in the last 10 minutes.
"The following year in '05 we were never really in it against Lithgow, so there was an expectation to win one. If we'd lost a third one in a row, people start talking about you're a team that can't win the big ones.
"It was definitely a relief, but the first one for the club, to be part of that as captain-coach, it really helped me as well."
The next year in the preliminary final against Lithgow at Tony Luchetti Sportsground, Panthers emerged 27-20 victors after an epic 100-minute battle.
Two Lithgow players were sin-binned in that clash - Terry Field for a high shot on Elvy and Clay Windle for punching the Panthers captain-coach.
It was legendary Panthers prop Stan Latu who set up the match winner for Heath Hotham, that victory meaning Elvy's side secured a home grand final.
The decider at Carrington Park belonged to Panthers as they won 24-4.
"With the pressure off our back in that following grand final we won quite comfortably," Elvy said.
Hanging in and building for the future
THIS Sunday in what is now the Peter McDonald Premiership - Group 10 and Group 11 having merged - Panthers and Lithgow will do battle again.
This time it's not a top-of-the-table battle, but rather ninth hosting 11th at Carrington Park.
But Elvy has encouraged both Panthers and Lithgow to "hang in".
"Lithgow, they're battling away in all age groups down there, it is tough times for some clubs," he said.
"Every decade things change and people have different priorities I suppose ... there are more important things than footy sometimes.
"But if Lithgow can just hang in, they'll get stronger.
"Panthers are the same, they've lost some good players the last couple of years.
"It would be good to get both clubs back to what they were like around that '05, '06, '07 years and getting some good battles going again."
Sunday's match will kick off at 2pm.
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