THEY might be averaging 34 scoring shots per game this year in AFL Central West senior men's action but the unbeaten competition leaders Bathurst Bushrangers aren't in a rush to try and pile on the points as quick as they can every match.
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As the team prepares for their third derby meeting of the year this Saturday against the Bathurst Giants one of the key messages for the team will be utilising every second that they have in possession.
Despite their dominant season to date, it's an area that co-coach Matt Archer said can still improve and help to take the side to new heights.
"We had a team meeting a couple of weeks ago before the last bye, where we split up into our groups, and our midfield group talked a lot about our decision making through the middle and it not always being about going forward," he said.
"That's been a focal point for us. When the option's there to move it quickly we still want to do that, and when we can get our forwards into one-on-ones that's really good for us. Sometimes when we go too direct teams can drop back and double team.
"We need to be wiser through the middle and not be as predictable."
It's a facet of the game that especially needs to be on point against the Giants team who are starting to put some solid results together as they eye off second spot on the ladder.
Bushrangers wiped Giants off the park in round one, 134 to 10, but the next meeting was a little more competitive as the Bushies won by 64.
"They've got a lot of good players and you can't read too much into those previous results. They'll be ready to go, and they're always fiery games. It never takes much for them to lift," Archer said.
"They've had a couple of good wins on the trot so they'll be ready to go."
Bushrangers put away Orange by 105 points last round to continue their impressive 2022 winning run.
"We're playing some good football and we're enjoying ourselves. I don't think the scoreboard reflected how tough Orange were," he said.
"We're just playing a great, attacking style of football at the moment that's always positive and we just have to try and keep that going.
"We're at a point where we've got ourselves a bit of a gap [on the ladder] but we don't want to take a backward step through the middle part of the season, so we just want to maintain that attacking style."
This will be the last game before another general bye arrives the following Saturday.
Archer said that break comes at a good time for the club.
"We've got a few boys that have pulled up sore from the Orange game. It's nothing serious, just a couple of little things
"Sam Kennedy, Ben Horn and Tom Maher have question marks over them. We'll give them as much time as they need before the weekend to see if they're ready but if we don't have to risk them then we probably won't.
"The bye that's coming up gives them an extra week to recover as well."
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