AN 80-point win might have kept the Bathurst Bushrangers Outlaws in the Central West AFL’s top two, but co-coach Paul Long feels there are still things his players need to work on.
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The Outlaws’ record sits at two victories from three rounds with Saturday’s 18-18-126 to 6-10-46 win over the Bathurst Giants at George Park 1, but Long wants to see less behinds and more goals in his side’s scoring summary.
“We got away with it today, but probably not how we would’ve liked,” he said.
“We probably had our best quarter in the first quarter, which is a contrast to the first couple of weeks, but we still didn’t kick straight, we’ve still got to work on that.”
As Long indicated, Outlaws made a strong start to the contest which set up the comfortable win.
The Bushrangers outfit booted seven goals seven in that opening term, while restricting the Giants to a single behind. That gave Outlaws a 48-point lead.
In the second quarter Giants coach Mark Kennedy moved the experienced Paul Jenkins into the centre alongside Cowra recruit Dave Manning and that helped his side better match the Outlaws.
Giants managed its first major of the contest and held the Outlaws to three for the term. Still, the damage had been done.
The Outlaws led 10-10-70 to 1-5-11 at half-time before five majors in the final term saw Long’s side crack triple figures for the second time this season.
Long paid tribute to the beaten Giants, but felt his side was not at its best.
“We probably did let each other down a little bit today, we were not complacent as such, but we lost a little bit of focus. We were still doing the right things to win the ball, but when we got the ball we were giving it back to them instead of maintaining possession. That’s something we’ve definitely got to work on,” he said.
“Michael Long went well out on the wing for us, he battled hard. Tom Markey was good up front, he pulled a bit of magic out here and there which was good to see and Kaleb Crowhurst, he had another good game.
“The youth in their side is something to behold. They’ve got a good group of kids and if they can maintain that, they’ll be very strong in years to come. They ran around today and mixed it with the best of us, they did really well.”
