The Parkes Rugby League Football Club (nicknamed the Spacemen) is a rugby league

Rugby league

Rugby league football, usually called rugby league, is a full contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular grass field. One of the two codes of rugby football, it originated in England in 1895 by a split from Rugby Football Union over paying players...

 club that plays in Group 11

Group 11 Rugby League

Group 11 is a rugby league competition based in the Central West region of New South Wales. The competition is played in five grades, these being the under 18s, womens league-tag, Reserve Grade and First Grade.-Current Clubs:...

. The Spacemen gained media attention when they recruited a number of Fiji national rugby league team

Fiji national rugby league team

-Competitions:Fiji have participated in:*Pacific Cup *World Cup *World Sevens *Superleague World Nines *Superleague Oceania Tournament *Pacific Rim Competition -Results:...

 players prior to the 2008 Rugby League World Cup

2008 Rugby League World Cup

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...

.

Nickname

Parkes

Parkes, New South Wales

- Transport :Parkes has a local bus service provided by Western Road Liners, which acquired Harris Bus Lines in March 2006. The Indian Pacific also stops twice a week, as well as the Broken Hill Outback Xplorer service, run by CountryLink, which heads to Broken Hill on Mondays and Sydney on...

 is a regional town of nearly ten thousand people located near the middle of New South Wales

New South Wales

New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...

, with its economy based on farming and mining. It is also the location of the Parkes Observatory

Parkes Observatory

The Parkes Observatory is a radio telescope observatory, 20 kilometres north of the town of Parkes, New South Wales, Australia. It was one of several radio antennas used to receive live, televised images of the Apollo 11 moon landing on 20 July 1969....

 Radio Telescope

Radio telescope

A radio telescope is a form of directional radio antenna used in radio astronomy. The same types of antennas are also used in tracking and collecting data from satellites and space probes...

, from which the Spacemen took their nickname.
The name was also recognised during the 100 year celebrations of rugby league by being listed in the article 100 Reasons Why People Love Rugby League, which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald.

Media attention

The Spacemen were simply a struggling regional club before circumstances brought media attention. The Spacemen advertised for players; at the same time, Fijian rugby league players sought to join a New South Wales club in preparation for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup

2008 Rugby League World Cup

The 2008 Rugby League World Cup was the thirteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup since the inauguration of the tournament in 1954, and the first since the 2000 event...

. TheseFiji national rugby league team

Fiji national rugby league team

-Competitions:Fiji have participated in:*Pacific Cup *World Cup *World Sevens *Superleague World Nines *Superleague Oceania Tournament *Pacific Rim Competition -Results:...

 players included Alipate Noilea

Alipate Noilea

Alipate Tani Noilea is a rugby league player. He is a Fijian international and represented his country at the 2008 Rugby League World Cup. He was one of Fiji's stand-out players in the tournament and earned widespread praise for his performances from the stand-off position...

, Semisi Tora

Semisi Tora

Semisi Tora born 28 January 1979 is a rugby league player. He is a Fijian international. He plays as a prop and second rower. He plays for the Parkes Spacemen. He was selected in the final 28 member group for the 2008 Rugby League World Cup in Australia and he made his debut against France scoring...

 and Ilisoni Vonomateiratu

Ilisoni Vonomateiratu

Ilisoni Vonomateiratu is a rugby league player. He is a Fijian international.-External links:*...

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Local media closely followed the 2008 Rugby League World Cup progress of the Fijian National team and its Spacemen, culminating in their loss to Australia in the second semi-final.. By this time national and international media had picked up the story.