"WE'RE coming."
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That was the message from Bathurst Giants coach Mark Kennedy after his side crushed the Dubbo Demons 16-13-109 to 5-5-35 in Saturday's Central West AFL minor semi-final.
On their home turf at George Park 1, the Giants fired in the opening term to open up a 31-point lead, absorbed the pressure of Demons fight back in the second quarter, then charged into the preliminary final with the biggest win over Dubbo in their history.
The Giants had 71 inside 50 entries compared to the Demons' 37, they made 64 tackles and a 168 pressure acts across the four quarters, plus had a 68 percent kicking efficiency.
"I think that was one of the strongest sides we've had on the paddock all year, so hopefully we put that in the back of the minds now of Orange and Bushrangers and let them know we're coming," Kennedy said.
"I was really happy with the way the guys played, they didn't panic. If you take it quarter by quarter, they won that second quarter, but we gathered that back in said that we've got to reset a little bit and go back to what we do really well.
"We got the ascendancy out of the centre, kicked a couple of goals in that third quarter and just ran away with it from there.
"It was really pleasing we stuck to the game plan, we worked really hard and came away with a really good result going into the preliminary final."
The Giants made a strong start to the match as they booted five majors in the space of 15 minutes, including a thumping effort from the top of the 50 metre arc from Emmitt Carr-Smith.
It took the Demons until the final minute of the term - after the Giants had put an attempted clearing kick out of bounds on the full - to post their first major via Bevan Charlton-White.
That made it 6-3-39 to 1-2-8 at the first change and it lifted the Demons.
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Dubbo clawed back the Giants' lead to 18 points as they controlled the clearances early in the second period and through the likes of Michael Daly, denied the hosts quality possession inside their attacking 50.
But momentum then swung again.
Tim French picked out an unmarked Paul Jenkins on the lead in the 37th minute and the Giants captain nailed his set shot.
A Bailey Brien special from a tight angle on the right boundary shortly before half-time made it 9-3-57 to 4-3-27 in the Giants' favour.
From there the Giants pulled away, kicking three majors in as many minutes to begin the third term.
Dubbo managed just a single behind - a Tom Budd attempt which struck the post - for the period as the Giants' lead ballooned to 61 points.
It was not until 14 minutes of the contest remained that the Demons managed their fifth major - Nathan Carroll hitting the mark - but it was small consolation.
The result spelt the end of the Demons' campaign, while the Giants will meet either Bushrangers Rebels or Orange Tigers in the preliminary final.
