As had been the case for much of the year, the Raiders had started poorly and an enthusiastic Westside made them pay and led 18-0 at the break.

But the “heated” half-time talk had the desired effect as Macquarie came storming home in the second half to score a 26-22 win and keep its finals hopes alive.

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“It was a pretty heated half-time talk,” Raiders coach Dylan Hill said.

“I didn’t really say too much. It was more Kurt (Fuller), who’s my captain, my dad and ‘Crofty’, an older fella from the club, and had a say and it sparked the boys into action.

“It was a different vibe in the sheds and was a lot happier at full-time. There was a lot of disappointment in the first half performance.”

With the match being played at the same time as the CYMS-Wellington battle at No. 1 Oval, the crowd at Apex wasn’t quite as large as seen at other derbies in recent times.

But the Westside fans who were there had plenty to cheer about early on as their side, ravaged by injuries and unavailability, shot out to an 18-0 lead following a Dean Lake double and try to Norman Button.

The Rabbitohs failed to score another point until Brendan Carr grabbed the match’s final try in the 78^th minute.

That set up some excitement late but it wasn’t enough for Westside after the Raiders had piled on 26 points leading up to that point.

Jayden Harvey was immense of the bench and scored a double for the victors, leading to a huge amount of praise from Hill, while the coach also singled out hard-working back-rower Jayden Merritt as another standout.

The experienced duo of Chris Daley and Bobby Jo Gordon also crossed in the four-point win, one which has the Raiders in a share of fifth but behind Nyngan on quotient.

While delighted to see his side win for a first time since May 13, Hill stated his side needs to be better again next week against Nyngan in a game who could decide who finishes in the top five.

“We played 40 minutes and scored 26 points in that second half so that shows the kind of football we can play,” Hill said.

“But, as I said to the boys, we can’t be putting in a 40 minute performance. We need an 80 minute performance and we’ve still got a lot to work on.”

Hill hopes the end of Macquarie’s slump, and the fact his side can move back into the Group 11 top five next weekend, kicks his players into action.

“We’re going to take it week-by-week now but that was a step in the right direction and there was good sings,” he said.

Macquarie moved level with Nyngan after the Tigers were defeated at home by the Parkes Spacemen.