AFTER a month of uncertainty, Bathurst Bushrangers Rebels captain Matt Archer is delighted his side are now one win away from qualifying for the Central West AFL grand final.
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Though the Rebels’ spot in the finals series has been assured for some time, Archer and his team-mates had to fight hard to secure second on the ladder.
That meant that club-mates Outlaws – who themselves had a real battle to scrape into fourth on percentages – will not have to face the Rebels in the minor semi-final.
It keeps the club’s hope for an all Bushrangers grand final alive.
“It’s a really positive thing, two weeks ago there wasn’t panic, but there was the real possibility that we might not have both teams in the finals and Rebels might finish third and miss out on that second chance,” Archer said.
“So there was that real uncertainty, but we’ve both really stepped up going into finals and won two really hard games of football.
“So the feeling around the club is fantastic.”
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While the Outlaws face the Bathurst Giants in Saturday’s minor semi-final, Rebels will head to Orange to contest the major semi-final against the Tigers.
The minor premiers lost two of their last three games heading into the finals, while Rebels won four of their last five and the match they lost was by a single point.
After looking a little vulnerable in the back line against Parkes last Saturday, Archer feels the return of Matt Luther will strengthen the Outlaws’ defence significantly.
“We’ll have him back which is a real big plus for us. You realise the difference one defender makes to the back line, he has probably missed three games all year and in those games we looked vulnerable without him,” he said.
“He really leads by example for us back there.
“Orange are similar to Parkes in the way that they contest the football and we’ve got to be a lot better [this week], we know that.
“We really have to make sure we work hard to win the ball and probably need to work better on setting up in defence.
“Hopefully we can get them, hopefully they don’t find that winning form again.”
Saturday’s major semi-final at Waratahs will commence at 2.30pm.
