FIVE goals in the space of 13 minutes in the third quarter - it was an effort from Bathurst Bushrangers co-coach Matt Archer that put the result of Saturday's AFL Central West men's tier one grand final beyond doubt.
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While the Bushrangers led the Bathurst Giants by 33 points at half-time, given the way the men in charcoal and orange had surged home in the final quarter of the previous week's preliminary final it was by no means job done.
But with the wind at their backs the Bushrangers - and in particular Archer - showed why the third term is often called the premiership quarter.
Some of Archer's majors came off the back of set shots after uncontested marks, but others saw him display the sort of skills which have made him one of the most consistently strong performed Bushrangers for years.
"Well it's nice to have the wind and the ball coming out of the back, but it was all the work of the midfield, I was just lucky to get on the back of it," Archer said of his effort.
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Though playing down his role in the 19-14-128 to 8-4-52 victory, Archer was happy to praise the squad which he coached alongside Tim Hunter.
As the undefeated minor premiers and many of the squad having been part of a 2019 grand final success, there was plenty of pressure on them to perform on Saturday. But Archer said they did well to shut it out.
"The guys were pretty relaxed all week. The first thing we said this week was to ignore all the outside noise, ignore the talk from everyone outside the club, just focus on ourselves and our roles and if we can do that, we'll be there or thereabouts," he said.
"It's special that we can do it all together, there are blokes that haven't had the chance to play in the grand final because of the two-team thing.
"Blokes like Pete Grundy who have full deserved it the most out of anyone the last two-three years have finally got their chance.
"You don't plan to do it, it's nothing you talk about, but it's a nice thing to top off a good year by going undefeated. It has been a tough year with COVID and everything, so it's one of the positives out of the year really."
