There’s more than bragging rights on the line when Bathurst Giants lock horns with Bathurst Bushrangers Rebels on Saturday afternoon in Central West AFL.
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Whoever wins the Bathurst derby showdown at George Park 1 will cement themselves into the competition’s top two places.
And, baring a miracle win by Parkes Panthers over Orange Tigers, the winner could go to the top of the ladder.
Currently, there’s a good mood in the Rebels camp after the win over Orange Tigers according to co-coach Steve Grundy.
“We’re playing some good football,” he said.
“We’ll go [into the game against Giants] with confidence.
“We’re playing a good brand and a good style of footy. That’ll be our big thing – to play our football at the end of day.”
Grundy said there’s a big incentive to win on the weekend because of the derby aspect but also to cement a top two spot.
“At the end of the year it does help if you sort yourself into the top two,” he said.
“Like any game this season, we’ll worry about ourselves, we’ll prepare well and make sure we execute those little things right but there’s obviously a lot of feeling between the two clubs.
“The Giants are becoming more and more competitive.
“It’s going to be a cracking game and who ever gets on top of the other is going to have to play some cracking football.”
Grundy praised the Giants’ midfield and said his side will have to be prepared to work them hard to get the win.
However, the Giants lineup has been disrupted by several outs and injuries.
Paul Jenkins, Sam Sloan, Julian Larsen, Nathan Belbin and Frank Bright will all miss the derby but it gives a chance for some of club’s juniors to step up into senior’s.
“We’ve rested a few players, so we’ve got a few playing up from the reserves,” Giants coach Mark Kennedy said.
“Regardless of the derby factor, we’ll treat this game like any other game. We’ll prepare as well as we can.”
Jacob Molkentin, Ryan Cooke, Julian Walsh, Brendon Edwards and Dylan Furnell are just some of the reserve grades who will step up or who will be continuing to step up.
“I’ve got Dylan Furnell playing centre-half forward, so hopefully he can have a good, solid game,” Kennedy said.
Giants have already played four of its six games this season at home, meaning there’ll be some tough away trips for the club before the end of the season.
“We need to go to Orange, Parkes and Dubbo and get the win in the second half of the season, if we want to solidify our spot in the finals,” Kennedy said.
First bounce between Giants and Rebels is at 2.30pm.
