HE might be a 'quiet achiever' of the Bathurst Bushrangers' ranks, but the performance of Cameron Richards in last Saturday's Central West AFL season opener spoke volumes.
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Richards booted five majors as the Bushrangers Outlaws posted a comprehensive 22-22-154 to 4-2-26 win over Cowra.
It was the eighth time in Richards' first grade career with the Bushrangers that he had kicked at least five goals, and Outlaws co-coach Steve Grundy hopes that tally will grow further.
"He can be a quiet achiever sometimes Camo, but before you know it he's kicked half a dozen goals on you by the time you've blinked an eye," Grundy said.
"He kicked fantastic on the weekend and recaptured a bit of the form he had maybe 18 months ago. It's great to see and it's another big asset to us up forward if he can keep building on that.
"He uses what he's got so well. He uses his body, he's smart, he puts himself in good positions and if he gets a shot at goal, most of the time he's going to kick it."
Richards was strong on the lead against Cowra, marked well and had a good conversion rate from set shots.
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They are qualities that he, and the rest of the Outlaws' forward line, will be looking to display in Saturday's round two clash as they face the tougher prospect of defending premiers Orange.
Grundy coached the Rebels side which lost last year's grand final to the Tigers, but he's moved on from that and is keen to see what his men can do at Waratahs.
"I think we're at peace with it now, that's football. You play for the highs and the lows, but yeah, I suppose that one will always hurt," he said.
"The games between Orange and Bathurst are always absolute classics aren't they? Look, they are two much different teams to the ones that met in last year's grand final, but as always, there will be a lot of feeling around and we are expecting another big game.
"Going over to Orange is never an easy task, they are always very good at home. The first few rounds will just be sussing each other a bit, we don't really know what each team is going to have until we play each other once."
Opening bounce is at 2.30pm.
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