THE Orange Tigers certainly know how to break Bathurst Bushranger hearts, but come this Saturday the Rebels are looking to dish out some pain of their own.
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The Rebels will host the Tigers in a top of the table Central West AFL clash at George Park 2, but it will not only be snatching first place off the Orange side which will motivate the Rebels.
A number of the current crop of Rebels were there on grand final day last year at George Park - a game which they looked set to win with a quarter remaining and a 27-point lead.
But the Tigers rallied to snatch the premiership by three points.
Round three of this year's premiership again saw the Tigers fire in the final term to sink the Rebels, this time an Andrew Nelson goal with 20 seconds left seeing Orange snatch a 10-7-67 to 9-12-66 win.
"Obviously the last time we played them over there was heart breaking for us, it was a very close game, really good game," Rebels co-coach Tim Hunter said.
"It's always tough to lose like that, but we hadn't played that well in the last quarter. I know it was the last kick, but a lot of things led up to it."
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What those two results highlight is the need for the Rebels to play consistent football across the entire match.
Hunter admits producing that sort of performance has proved elusive, but he hopes the motivation of beating the Tigers at home can inspire the Rebels.
"I think we just need a full four-quarter effort. That's probably the one thing we've struggled with, it always seems that we haven't played great in at least one quarter," he said.
"Against a side like Orange you just can't afford to do that, one bad quarter will cost you the game. Even half a bad quarter can hurt, they're a really quality team.
"If we can play our brand of footy for four quarters, I think we'll be there or thereabouts.
"It will be a test for us, they will come over ready and raring to go and keen to keep that top spot."
Opening bounce is at 2.30pm, with the Rebels versus Tigers match to follow the Bushrangers Outlaws-Bathurst Giants clash which starts at noon.
