Luke Macauley named best on ground in Bathurst Giants' maiden AFL Central West men's grand final win

It's the dream that Bathurst Giants' Luke Macauley got to live out on Saturday when his side took down rivals Bathurst Bushrangers by 38 points at George Park 1.

He wore the number one on his back and he executed like the number one player on a day that will go down in club history.

The Giants follower proved to be a valuable bridge between the midfield and the forward line, especially when the pressure ramped up after half-time.

As a bonus he picked up a great goal towards the end of the match, bending a right-to-left punt through the middle to put the result beyond doubt.

Macauley pointed towards Sam Sloan's five-goal effort as a potential candidate for best on ground but was still happy to come away with the honour.

"I think I need to buy Sloany a few beers tonight. I think there's been a bit of a robbery," he said.

"It's a privilege though. It really could have gone to anyone out there today. All that we ask for from everyone is that you treat it like any other game ... and so many people rose to the occasion.

"That effort showed on the scoreboard."

Giants rocketed out to a 26-point lead at the first break but Bushrangers outscored them four goals to two in the second quarter.

That forced the Giants to take close assessment of what they could change, and Macauley said the team couldn't have responded better.

"We started off perfectly, to go into the second quarter up four goals. They got back into it after that, and I think that came from dropping our accountability in the middle," he said.

"We went back in at half-time, assessed where we were at and what we needed to improve on, and we new that. In the second half we executed it and the rest of it took care of itself."

Macauley is among the group of long-term Giants who have come up through the junior grades to mark themselves as a top option at the senior level.

Winning a grand final alongside that group is something he treasures greatly.

"I'd say 90 per cent of our team today would have come through the junior ranks. We've all played together for a number of years, so we all know how each other plays," he said.

"It's so special. It's been a long time coming.

"We came into the comp six years ago getting flogged by 150-plus points every game and now here we are all those years later winning the comp."