HE'S worn a Central West AFL representative jumper, has a host of grand final experience and previously captained the Bathurst Bushrangers, but now Shaun Noyen is having an impact for the Bathurst Giants.
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On Saturday Noyen was not only amongst those to hit the scoreboard for the Giants as they snapped Orange Tigers' winning streak, but he made the most tackles of any Bathurst player as they won 8-6-54 to 3-5-23.
And on a day when cold and windy conditions at Waratahs meant the Giants' disposal efficiency was down on its season average, tackling pressure mattered.
"That's a good win, especially as they were undefeated for the season so far. It was a tough game too," Giants coach Mark Kennedy said.
"Shaun Noyen, he made 10 tackles and most of those were in the forward line, he kicked two goals as well.
"So Shaun Noyen, he was just great for us, and Bailey Brien, he made eight tackles too, for a winger and a forward, that's just awesome."
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Heading to Orange on the back of a tough away loss against Dubbo, the Giants were underdogs as they lined up against the Tigers.
The Tigers had not lost since the first week of the 2018 finals series and were aiming for a seventh win in succession.
But the Giants managed to restrict the hosts to just three behinds in the opening half to hold a handy 4-3-27 to 0-3-3 lead at the main break.
The Tigers clawed some of that advantage back in the third term as they rallied and with just two majors in it with a quarter remaining, the game was wide open.
It was Kennedy's men who seized the opportunity.
"The third quarter they came out a little bit fired up and they kicked two goals in that quarter, but at the end of the game we just kicked away with it," the coach said.
"I think our side came of age a bit, it was a really physical game and they matched it with them. They gave as good as they got I suppose ... and we came away with the lollies.
"They're 18-year-old men now and I think they are more physical than people give them credit for."
The Giants' kicking efficiency for the match was down from a season average 63 percent to 58, hand-balling efficiency only was at 50 percent and they took less marks than usual - 40 - inside 50.
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But their tackling was impressive - they made 66 - and their pressure acts at the contest were up 15 percent on their season average. Kennedy said that sort of commitment came right across the park.
"Everyone played well but Riley Mitchell was just an absolute motor around the paddock for us and Jenko [Paul Jenkins] again led the way for us," the coach said.
"Oscar Mann played his guts out all day too, he was in and under. It's good to have that outside running, but you've really got to get someone in to get the ball and Oscar and Riley did that job all day for us."
The result sees the Giants move it into third on the ladder and they will be looking to consolidate this Saturday as they play another away match - this time against Parkes.
