THE Bathurst Bushrangers Outlaws clashing with club-mates the Rebels – they are matches that have forged a reputation for tough and exciting football and this Central West AFL season they get to dish it up in round one.
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The opening bounce of the 2018 competition is set for George Park next Saturday with the Outlaws and Rebels keen to claim early bragging rights within the club.
“It means one of us will be on top of the ladder and one of us will be on the bottom straight away,” president Brett Archer said.
“But it’s a good way to sort out some rivalry to start with.
“It’s always one of the most physical games of the year because neither one of them want to concede to the other Bushrangers team. While they’re mates, it’s no holds barred basically.
“It will be good just to see how we are shaping up as two teams.”
Since the Outlaws claimed the premiership flag last season and the Rebels ranked third in the league, both have undergone major personnel changes.
Not only have the returning Bushrangers been shuffled, but the Bathurst club has picked up players from the AFL Sydney, AFL Queensland, AFL Canberra, Riverina and Golden Rivers competitions.
“It’s going to be completely different to last year. So when you say it is going to be a grand final match between Outlaws and Orange, it is going to be a completely different Outlaws team,” Archer said.
“The teams were a little bit the same last year from the previous year, but this year it is a completely different look for both with new faces in the teams.”
Last Saturday the Bushrangers had a trial match against Parkes, who is returning to the CWAFL this season.
Bathurst posted an 11-11-77 to 5-5-35 victory, but for Archer there was something more pleasing than the result.
He enjoyed seeing senior debutant James Smith boot a great goal in the third term and the performances of a some of the new recruits.
“The good thing is we had five new players travelling down to try them out and all of them had blinders, which was really good,” Archer said.
“We’ve lost a few from last year – travelling overseas and a few students going back to their home towns and things like that. But we’ve had some new players turn up and a couple of them are looking pretty good at the moment.”
As for his new role as president, Archer said he is getting plenty of help from the man previously at the helm.
“As far as I’m concerned, Graeme [Grundy] will always be president. He’s just an awesome presence in the club, they call him the Godfather,” he said.
