Bathurst Giants not short of effort in AFL Central West derby defeat to Bathurst Bushrangers

After being wiped off the park in the first derby clash of the competition the Giants welcomed back several key players for Saturday's latest game with their cross-city park, who helped steer the team to a much more competitive position at George Park 1.

The team went down 17-17-119 to 8-7-55 but remained in a position to still trouble the Bushrangers up until the fourth quarter, where their opponents outscored them three goals to none.

"It was probably one of the better sides that we've been able to put on the paddock over the weekend," onjured Giants skipper Bailey Brien said.

"We definitely took it to them for three quarters but in that last quarter it slipped away a little bit. The end score probably didn't reflect the effort that we'd been putting in all day."

One big plus for the Giants was their commitment to their game plan and the ability to maintain a strong workrate.

"Our big focus on the day was just putting effort into everything, and that's what all the boys did for those first three quarters. The effort was still there in the fourth quarter but it was probably just lacking a little at times," Brien said.

"Nathan Smith's a key man for them up forward and we concentrated on trying not to let him score as many as last game

"Across the paddock a lot of guys stood up and did their job better than the last time we played them."

Brien said a couple of errant passes and misplaced handballs hurt the Giants in the fourth quarter, who up until that point were still in a position to at least trouble the Bushrangers.

"Sometimes our skill lacked a little bit at times in this game and we probably kicked a few more behind than we would have wanted to," he said.

"Around the ground a bit of skill with foot and hand cost us at times but it's something than we can improve on."

Giants will have a tough trip away to Dubbo Demons next round.

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