Peter McDonald Premiership: Meet Macquarie's Billy Gilbert

Just a few weeks ago for the club's Indigenous round, several players named Gilbert as the funniest player in the club and it's easy to see why.

Joining the Raiders from stints in the QLD Cup and the highly-competitive Newcastle Rugby League competition, Gilbert was one of the biggest names to move to the region ahead of the 2023 season.

Through connections with both Macquarie coaches, Gilbert found himself running out for the Raiders.

"I played QLD Cup with Jack Kav, I've known 'Aka' (Alex Ronayne) for about 10 years and I do a lot of pig hunting with Shaq Gordon," he said.

"It would have been a bit awkward if I went and played with any other club."

Originally from the Riverina area, Gilbert's stints at the Central Queensland Capras, Kurri Kurri and Cessnock have all led him to the Central West.

Capable of playing hooker and lock, the easy-going Macquarie gun is loving his time in Dubbo.

"I played in the Newcastle competition last year and that's a different level to here but it's still tough," he said.

"It doesn't matter who you are playing anyone can win on the day. It's all about who has got the most money."

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This weekend, Gilbert will line up at lock for the Raiders in their match against Parkes at Pioneer Oval.

With Macquarie still mathematically a chance of making the finals, the Raiders need to win both of their games and hope Nyngan loses their remaining matches.

While he is fully focused on beating Parkes on Sunday, Gilbert knows it's going to be physical, especially after the Raiders beat them earlier in the season.

"I don't know what will happen to be honest," he said.

"We should have had the last five games but we didn't, if you look at our games we were in all of them.

"Parkes should be tough, last time we took them we played really well but this time you just don't know.

"We've had a few injuries, we don't have Josh Nixon and Filisone (Pauta) tore his hamstring. So we've had a lot of blokes fill in.

"I reckon we can beat them easily if we stick to our gameplan and play our footy, no one should be able to beat us."

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