Playing on a sodden and muddy George Park 2, Outlaws coach Brett Archer said rather than being a showcase of skill, it was more a battle of attrition.

“It was very untidy, it wasn’t a great spectacle to watch because it was played in muddy conditions. There was no clean distribution or anything like that,” he said.

“I think we probably just got the better of the conditions is all.

“They have got some very talented guys who play good football and so do we, but it was just a slog.”

The Outlaws went into Saturday’s match sitting on top of the ladder and having already beaten the Rebels in their inaugural meeting earlier this season, were hopeful of more success.

But the third-placed Rebels had pushed Outlaws all the way in that first meeting and were fired up by a disappointing one-point defeat at the hands of Cowra a week earlier.

It made for a tight opening term, but the Outlaws were able to get the early advantage as they notched up three majors as opposed to one for the Rebels.

The second quarter saw the Outlaws build their lead, but while the score read 6-8-44 to 2-4-16 at the long break, Archer knew it was not job done.

As well as battling a less than ideal surface, the Outlaws and Rebels also had to contend with wind and rain as the match unfolded.

When play resumed in the second half, it was the Outlaws who were running into the wind.

“The wind was a big factor, that’s why the third quarter was very low scoring. We had set ourselves to defend and our defence did do pretty well in that third quarter,” Archer said.

“We knew coming into that fourth quarter if we had the lead then we’d be hard to beat. Conditions probably got worse in that last quarter too, the rain started coming sideways.

“You couldn’t leave anyone on the bench for too long or they’d freeze to death, so the rotations were going pretty quick. It was a shocker.”

As Archer indicated, much of the third quarter was about defence for his players.

While the Rebels did not concede a single point for the term, they still struggled to have a real influence when they got the ball inside their 50.

They added one goal and four behinds to their tally, but still had an 18-point deficit to make up with a quarter to play.

In dry and calm conditions the Rebels would very much have been a chance of a fightback given they boast one of the best attacks in the league.

But with the wind against them, the driving rain in their faces and the playing surface having further deteriorated since the opening bounce, it was too big a task for the Rebels.

They could only manage two behinds as the Outlaws emerged 34-point victors.

Tom Galloway kicked four goals for the Outlaws, while team-mates Peter Grundy, Matt Archer, Casey White and Bill Watterson also booted majors.

Goal scorers for the Rebels were Ricky Webb, Mick Phillips and Jack Vogan.