Forbes led 12-8 at half-time after a topsy-turvy opening period in which the lead changed four times, before turning it on in the second half to put Roos to bed.

Forbes continually turned Dubbo around with pinpoint attacking kicks, dominating field position and forcing the Kangaroos to play the majority of the second period in their own half.

Forbes’ defensive effort in the second half was sublime too.

As a result, the Platypi outscored Dubbo 17-10 in the second half, but it simply wasn’t that close in the final 40 minutes.

The victory earned Forbes another crack at minor premiers Orange Emus and a chance to host the 2016 grand final, should they win that major final.

For Roos, they’ll host next weekend’s sudden death minor semi-final.

“Getting another crack at Emus was a motivating factor,” Forbes skipper Jack Hammond, who scored a double in the win, said.

“We knew it was going to be tough, but [Dubbo are] a big rock and we just wanted to chip away at it. They’re a big pack and we knew we had to get into the grind to get away with it [on Saturday] and I think we did that really well.

“Every time we put points on it came from our defence.

“Emus will be fresh after having the week off, but I think you want to be playing as much rugby as possible at this time of the season. It’ll be a great game I think, whichever way it goes.”

Roos inside centre Ted Bates echoed Hammond’s sentiments, lamenting the fact his side struggled to ever truly take control of the game.

“I think it was definitely down to the fact they pinned us in our own half in that second half. It’s tough to score the points you need when you’re constantly forced to kick from your own half,” Bates said.

“They deserve credit for the way they did that, but even so, I don’t think our kicks were really up to scratch either.

“It’s a tough loss, we’d much prefer to be playing in Orange next weekend but at the very least we’ll host the minor final.”

Dubbo fullback James Mata opened the scoring in the sixth minute with a 40 metre penalty goal, which was to be one of very few goals kicked all day.

In fact, collectively, the five players who had cracks at goal in the game kicked three from 14 attempts.

Dubbo enjoyed the upper hand for the next 10 minutes or so thanks to strong ball retention and Forbes conceding a number of penalties, but once the Platypi manged to hold the ball for any significant period of time they began to somewhat take control.

Enough control to score the first try of the game anyway, through flanker Adrian Cole, and take a 7-3 lead.

It didn’t take long for Roos to hit back though, tighthead prop Johnny Mafiti burrowed over from a pick and drive to give his side the lead. Mata missed, making it 8-7.

True to the see-sawing nature of the half, Hammond stretched out after a barnstorming run close to the line from No.8 Matt Coles – far and away the best on the paddock – to give Forbes the lead back at 12-8, where it stayed until after the half-time break.

Dubbo came out from the break hard, scoring one minute into the second period through Josh Exner. Roos led 13-12 after the missed conversion, but from there it was all Forbes.

Jarrod Hall scored in the right corner and then in the 55^th minute Hammond scored his second after Forbes’ forwards sucked in Roos’ defenders with 12 consecutive pick and drive phases.

Although Eli Kinscher scored against the run of play a couple of minutes later, Forbes rarely looked threatened after their skipper’s second.

Dubbo’s Joe Finch and Filisione Pauta both saw yellow in the late stages of the game and Forbes took advantage when Coles scored three minutes out from full-time. Jarrod Hall nailed the conversion to secure the 29-18 win.

“Hally’s a hooker so I was as surprised as anyone he took the kick. I think he might have been a back a long time ago, but he’s been in a comfort zone for a while now,” Hammond laughed.

FORBES PLATYPI 29 (Jack Hammond 2, Adrian Cole, Jarrod Hall, Matt Coles tries; Adam Hall, Jarrod Hall conversions) def DUBBO KANGAROOS 18 (Eli Kinscher, Josh Exner, Johnny Mafiti tries; James Mata penalty goal)