Just a week after being dealt a heavy defeat against rivals Bathurst Giants the Outlaws will be underdogs for a match against a Tigers team who are on a five game winning run.

Dubbo Demons’ presence close to the Outlaws on the ladder adds to the pressure on the Bushrangers men.

Outlaws can’t be knocked down from the top four regardless of how they fare against Orange but they need to string together positive results in the closing month of the regular season to keep that spot.

Co-coach Tom Regan said his Outlaws are determined to prove a point at Waratahs.

“I reckon everyone should have a bit of fire in the belly for this. It’s probably the game for us that prove that we can still be a threat come finals time,” he said.

“Giants were a quality outfit last week and they showed us what we have to fix up. There’s a few small things we were doing wrong, they picked up on that and then they capitalised on it.”

Outlaws have reason to feel confident of taking down a red hot Tigers team given the way their previous meeting played out.

In an entertaining match featuring a combined 32 goals, Tigers were 122 to 92 winners at George Park but the Outlaws were never out of the contest.

Playing on Orange turf adds an extra bit of difficulty to the game but Regan is hopeful it can work in the Outlaws’ favour.

“We haven’t played over there this year so it will be interesting playing on the new ground,” he said.

“They’re still learning that ground just as much as anyone else I suppose. We like the bigger ground, we always train on the bigger ground and that’s what I believe suits our style of footy.”

Both teams feature a key target man in the forward 50m (Tim Hunter for Outlaws and Tim Barry for Tigers) and whoever is given the most space in the match could make a big mark on the scorecard.

Outlaws are fighting hard to dig their way out of a mid season slump.

The team have won just five or their last six matches – their only success in that time coming at home against Parkes Panthers.

All Outlaws players from the previous match are available for the Tigers game, and the Bathurst team could welcome back several players for the crucial clash depending on work commitments.

An Outlaws has the potential to blow the minor premiership race right back open.

Tigers and Outlaws play from 2.30pm.