Bushrangers maintained their unbeaten start to the 2022 season with an 11-21-87 to 4-5-29 win at George Park 2.

Bushrangers could be accused of trying to do too much with the ball too quickly during a subpar first quarter performance, allowing the Demons to run out to a 4-1-25 to 3-1-19 lead at the first break.

A big talk was required among the Bushies following that opening term and that discussion bore fruit when the team returned to the field.

The passing from the Bushrangers became shorter and sharper, with the extra build-up time leading to much better scoring opportunities, while their defence also stepped up.

Bushrangers held the Demons to just a pair of behinds over the next two quarters and the hosts put on four goals and 15 behinds in the same time period.

Little split the clubs across the fourth quarter but by that point Bushrangers had already done the damage thanks to their efforts around either side of half-time.

Bushrangers co-coach Matt Archer said the team wasn't taking their time to assess the full range of options available to them in attack.

"It was definitely a slow start. There just wasn't any thought process put in to what we were doing. It was just 'kick it straight and long'," he said.

"There wasn't much handballing and there was no thought put towards going sideways or backwards. It just played into their hands a bit and Dubbo were really up for it at the start.

"In all honesty, we were probably lucky to be within a goal at quarter time. When we went into that break we went into our different groups - forwards, mids and backs - and the message across all of them was that we just needed to stop kicking the ball long all the time."

Cooler heads started to prevail in the second quarter for the Bushrangers, and once the home side got into their groove they rarely lost their way for the rest of the match.

Nathan Smith took his early season goal tally to 15 by kicking another four in Saturday's win, while Hugh Templeton also kicked three for the Bushrangers.

"It was a great response. The boys bounced back really quickly," Archer said.

"Dubbo weren't getting any clearances or getting the ball forward. Conditions probably helped a little bit, because it was wet and damp, but they just struggled to transition the ball.

"When Dubbo get easy clearances out of the middle they're going to score on you and it can turn into a bit of a shootout. It was a really, really good team performance.

"Tom Maher in our back line played on their top scorer from last year [Josh Anasis], and he kept him to just one. Hugh Templeton up front kept us in it during the first quarter with a couple of massive goals.

"Our midfield collectively, with AJ [Andrew James] and Bill [Watterson], really led from the front."

The Bushrangers' haul of 21 behinds wasn't ideal but Archer was willing to forgive that, given a lot of the sprayed efforts came with the win already secured.

"We were trying to break the record for most behinds in a game," he laughed.

"They had a lot of numbers back so there were a few pressured kicks, and it was hard to get marks. Towards the end there was a little bit of blazing too when the scoreline got comfortable."

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