Bushrangers emerged 14-13-97 to 12-10-82 winners against a much improved Giants side, keeping their unbeaten streak alive after their biggest scare of the season so far.

It was ultimately the Bushrangers' opening term, a 7-0-42 quarter, that proved the difference.

Giants continued to eat into that margin over the following two quarters, getting themselves within a goal at one stage, before the Bushrangers put together a resilient last period to push the final margin out to 15.

Bushrangers co-coach Matt Archer said his squad did enough with their limited chances through the middle of the game to extend the winning run to eight matches.

"We just seemed a bit flat and never seemed to kick out of second gear for most of the game. I think we were lucky that we kicked so straight in that first quarter because that allowed us to pull ahead," he said.

"I think we maybe got a little bit comfortable and to their credit they were a lot better. We just couldn't get our hands on the ball in the midfield and they really challenged us in there.

"Most of the ball went into their forward half and we struggled to transition the ball. Once we did get the ball into our forward line we usually generated a shot at goal but the ball wasn't getting in the often.

"We were lucky to get away with it in the end."

Bushrangers didn't have a great answer for Jack Goodsell's dominance and had to do what they could to limit the Giants player's damage around the centre of the park.

"Their on ballers just seemed to be a bit more on the move. Once the ball bounced out of that intial contest in the middle they were definitely more keen to get to that next contest," Archer said.

"They've got the premier ruckman in the competition in Jack Goodsell and he really got on top. Kolby, our ruckman, went down early in the second quarter so Peter Grundy and AJ [Andrew James] had to compete in the ruck, and they just couldn't do so.

"Our back line really held up well considered they were getting peppered out of those centre clearances. They probably felt the pressure a little and made some uncharacteristic mistakes but I thought they still did very well to hold up under that pressure.

"The forward line was really positive in being able to capitalise on the limited opportunities that they had."

Giants have drawn closer to the Bushrangers on the scoreboard with every meeting this season, losing the first derby by 124 points before reducing that to 64 a fortnight later.

Bushrangers may have come into their latest game on the back of a big win over Orange Tigers but there were some areas that needed improvement.

Giants exposed some of those issues and Archer said it gives the team plenty of food for thought going into the last two months of the regular season.

"I don't get gut feelings often but there was one hanging around during the week that it might be one that we drop," he said.

"To still play pretty flat to what we expect of ourselves and still come away with a win is a bonus but we'll definitely take a lot out of this game - probably moreso than anything out of the first half of the year.

"We need to be a bit more proactive in our midfield and our backline just need to keep their cool."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: