In his 50^th game as a Bushranger, Horn revelled in the wet and cold conditions and helped his side to a commanding 16-20-116 to 3-3-21 win over the Dubbo Demons at George Park 2.

It means they head into the AFL Central West general competition bye with a 12-point lead on men's tier one the ladder.

"I don't remember him playing a bad game, the other thing with Benny is that he's such a team first player," Bushrangers co-coach Tim Hunter said of Horn.

"He played a great game on the weekend, he kicked three goals. He's really courageous, a head over the footy type operator. When you need a lift it's a Benny Horn smother or a run down tackle or even just shepherding."

Horn's effort against the Demons highlights why he's been an important and popular Bushranger.

"He's always been the guy who plays whatever role the team needs him to on the day, doing those little one percenters that lift the team, and on top of all that, he's just a class player," Hunter said.

"He's won a league best and fairest, a club best and fairest, he can play in the midfield or forward. He's a really amazing player and been amazing for our football club.

"It feels like he's played more than 50, but he's had injuries and travelled, so I'm glad he's got there. He's a champion."

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While the scoreboard displayed a commanding win at full-time, Hunter said the weather meant it was hard work.

However, the Bushrangers did get the strong start that Hunter and co-coach Matt Archer had ordered.

The hosts restricted Dubbo to just two majors in the first half to open up a 39-point lead at the long break.

"Just with the conditions, it's a bit of a slog there at the moment with the water on the ground, but it's good to go into the bye week with another win," Hunter said.

"We just really wanted to focus on a good start, the last time we played Dubbo here they sort of got the jump on us a bit, so we wanted to make sure we started well.

"We did that, we were able to get our noses in front early which was always going to be important on a cold, miserable day."

After half-time the Bushrangers further extended their advantage, restricting the Demons to just a single behind in the final term.

The final margin stood at 95 points, Nathan Smith added another five majors to his season tally, but Hunter was just as impressed with what his side did in defence.

"It's been a real strong point of ours, our defence, with our back line, plus the defensive pressure we put on all over the ground it makes it really difficult for teams to score. That in turn gives our forward line a better look at things," he said.

"Our defensive effort as a team has been a real, real positive, the boys have been working really hard on it, so it's great to see."

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