A four goal run over the final quarter took the Rebels to a 10-22-82 to 6-8-44 win over the Giants that played out much closer than the scoreline would suggest.

Rebels have leapt over the Giants into second spot on the ladder with the win and will guarantee they finish there with a win over Parkes Panthers in the closing round.

In tricky conditions it was the dominance of the Rebels’ ruckmen and their defensive unit that proved the difference.

Rebels co-coach Steve Grundy had labelled the previous round’s loss to Dubbo Demons as one of the most disappointing performances of the year, but Saturday’s derby success couldn’t have been a more different story.

“It was probably as close as we could have been to a complete performance. We were a little wayward in kicking again but we did everything else right apart from that,” he said.

“We knew the job at hand and everyone went about their business in the right way.

“We were aggressive at the ball and used it really well. Possession football was the name of the game. When we didn’t have the ball our contesting and spoiling was great.

“It was on another level from what’s it’s been through the year, and coming into finals that’s really encouraging.”

The Bushrangers side looks certain to face Orange Tigers for the first grand final position but Grundy said the team need to remain focused.

“We’re not going to get ahead of ourselves,” he said.

“We face Parkes next week and with the way they’ve been over the last few rounds we’re not going to take them lightly, but we’ve given ourselves a fantastic chance at that top two.”

Incredibly, both teams went into the final break with six goals to their name but the Rebels had kicked 19 behinds to the Giants’ six.

Luckily for the Bushrangers men their inaccuracy didn’t come back to bite as they played out a strong fourth quarter.

Giants can still take second spot should they beat Dubbo Demons next week and Parkes spring an upset on the Rebels.

“It’s a couple of tough games for us to finish off. We have to go away to Dubbo this weekend and that’ll be a difficult one,” Giants mentor Mark Kennedy said of the run towards finals.

“Rebels just played better than us on the day. We were quite flat. They’re a great side and they’re getting their act together at the right time of the year.

“They’re a threat to the competition and people have to be on point to beat these teams, and we just weren’t there yet. We weren’t prepared to go out and give it a red hot go.

“We learned a lot from the defeat. We’ll work on our centre clearances … because we just weren’t getting them. We need to work on our intensity around the football.”