Club president Dave Allen said the players and committee members are proud to officially open the refurbished facilities this weekend with Member for Bega, Andrew Constance and Group 16 president Dean Lynch in attendance.

Last year the Candelo-Bemboka Panthers received $86,000 in funding from Bega Shire Council, the NSW State Government and the NSW Department of Sport and Recreation to upgrade its facilities.

But the day will not be just about ceremony.

Once the official duties are over, some quality footy is expected to be played. 

Games will kick off from 11am with the women’s league tag match between the Merimbula-Pambula Hot Doggies and the Cooma Fillies.

The main game for the Candelo-Bemboka supporters will be at noon when the Panthers take on the Cooma Stallions in reserve grade, followed by the women’s match-up between the Pink Panthers and Cooma Fillies.

The day will finish with the first grade clash between the Merimbula-Pambula Bulldogs and Cooma Stallions.  

The sixth-placed Panthers will have their work cut out for them against fourth-placed Stallions. 

“I saw they [Cooma Stallions] had a good 72-10 win over Narooma last round, which was a bit of a surprise, so it should be a really tough game on Sunday,” Allen said.

Allen said the team will not be changing much in training this week and, despite a few injuries and player availabilities, will front their usual squad against the Stallions.

“We had a big change-up of players from the competition last year with lots of new guys on the team so we are still getting everyone used to each other and gelling together,” he said. 

The Panthers will also attempt to recover after last round’s crushing 20-14 loss to competition heavyweights, the Moruya Sharks, at Ack Weyman Oval.

The conditions made play sloppy and scores were tied 6-6 at half-time thanks to Panthers’ Michael Motbey and Joshua Cochrane.

In the second half tries to Grant Moon and Cory Lennon saw the Panthers in from 14-6, however three late tries to the Sharks saw them run away with the win.

“In the second half we just dropped the ball too much, gave away too many penalties and lost possession, but once we get this cohesion going and play together a bit more, especially with a new coach this should improve – it takes a bit of time to gel,” Allen said. 

“But the guys are improving each week, and while it was a disappointing loss, a lot of good came out of it.”   

The Pink Panthers, Candelo-Bemboka’s women’s team, also had a hard away game, losing to the Moruya Sharkettes 30-8.

Rebecca Darcy was the Pink Panthers’ star player on the day with two tries, and was well supported by team mates Caitlyn Johnson and Samantha Moon. 

“The girls are yet to win a game but every week they keep improving.

"A lot of the players haven’t played league tag before or have limited experience but they have come together and it is great to see their results improving,” Allen said.