The Bathurst Bushrangers Outlaws beat Orange to earn a place in the Central West AFL finals

After the toughest run in the history of the side saw the Outlaws slip outside the top four, the final two weeks of competition were do-or-die.

But under pressure, the Bushrangers rallied.

Firstly Outlaws beat Dubbo – the side battling with them for fourth place – in the penultimate round.

Then on Saturday at George Park 2, the Outlaws beat minor premiers the Orange Tigers 13-10-88 to 9-7-61 to cement fourth place. They nudged out Dubbo on percentages.

“It was unreal. We knew the importance of it and that was the pleasing thing, everyone really stepped up and really committed to playing good footy – no-one backed out,” Outlaws co-coach Ben Horn said.

“We’ve had a few hard patches this season, but we’re starting to play our best footy of the year. It’s very pleasing and we’re confident going into next week – we’re going to come out hard and we’re going to play tough footy.”

The Outlaws had lost their two prior games against Tigers this season, but with their finals hopes on the line, they began the latest battle in strong fashion.

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The hosts booted four goals one – three of those majors coming from the boot of teenage talent Charlie Flude – to lead by five points at the first change.

Outlaws backed that up with a solid second term to extend their advantage to 18 points by the long break, but it was the third quarter which proved the most telling.

While restricting the Tigers to one goal and a behind, Outlaws pumped through four more majors for an 11-4-70 to 6-3-39 lead. From there they closed it out.

“We knew we had to come out strong against them, they’re a quality side, you don’t become minor premiers without being a quality side,” Horn said.

“So we came out strong and we managed to stick it to them the whole game. It was a very good result.

“They were there all day, early in the last they started coming back.

“But I was always confident in the boys, I knew everyone would do their thing and keep fighting. They kicked a couple of goals, but then we kicked a couple back.”

Horn finished the match with four goals, but nominated Flude as the best of the Outlaws in the pressure game.

The teenager has a record of good performances against the Tigers, having been named best on ground when the Outlaws beat the Orange side in last year’s grand final.

“One of the standouts, it was hard to go past him, was 16-year-old Charlie Flude. He’s just got heart and commitment and is the toughest bloke out there. He’s absolutely unbelievable,” Horn said.

“He’s out-bodying guys twice his size … he kicked three goals in the first quarter and really set us up for a big game. For our team, he was voted by our players as best on ground, he played unreal.

“It is very pleasing seeing a junior like him coming through.”

The Outlaws will now face Bathurst Giants in the minor semi-final, while the Bushrangers Rebels meet Tigers in the major-semi.

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