The home side was in total control for virtually the entire game, building a 23-0 lead before the Greens, on top of the ladder leading into the game, could even fire a shot.

It was the Bill Cummins show, the Eagles' veteran starring in his 100^th game for the club as the red and white hoops clinched a 23-12 victory and leapt Emus into first place on the ladder come the end of 80 minutes in the final round blockbuster.

The stunning victory sets-up a juicy rematch between the two of the Central West Rugby Union's biggest and baddest birds, Emus now forced to travel to tackle Cowra at the Eagles nest in next week's major semi-final, with grand final hosting rights on the line.

And if Saturday's final round clash is anything to go by, Emus will need to hit the ground running.

Cowra's start was sensational at the Cowra Rugby Ground, Ellis Hawker and Navitali Bola crossing for the hosts to, alongside a lone conversion from Noah Ryan, skip the Eagles' out to a 12-0 lead after the first 40 minutes.

Ryan's right boot then extended that lead to 15 points via a penalty goal eight minutes into the second stanza.

Another successful three-pointer then kicked Cowra out again, and when Damian Michael crossed with 30 minutes to go to extend that hosts' lead out to 23-0, a home semi-final was the Eagles' to lose.

And despite Emus' best efforts - the chooks hit back through front-row dynamo Charlie Henley and Michael Graham, while Gus Roberts managed to convert one of those tries to claw back to 23-12 - Cowra wasn't letting their advantage slip.

The Eagles needed to ensure their rivals didn't leave on Saturday with a bonus point, and winning by 11 was enough to send the 2020 champions, and the best team in the Central West over the course of the last decade, packing empty handed.

Cowra hasn't won a top grade minor premiership in 31 years - the last one being in the old South West Rugby competition - and Saturday's win puts Col Jeffs' side in the best position it's been in over 30 years to go a step further than that Eagles team managed back in 1990.

"Thirty one years was the last minor premiership, we made the grand final and were beaten, I was actually in that team. That'll be some of the motivation for next week," an emotional Jeffs told the Cowra Guardian post game.

"Thirty years in the Central West, we've been to the finals (since) but never made a major (semi).

"A minor premiership is absolutely outstanding, it's great for the club.

"They had a lot of belief, obviously we were concerned there was pressure on us to win the minor premiership by so many points."

Jeffs said the club was determined to mark Cummins' milestone, and that of 200-gamer Adam Meiklejohn, in style.

"We wanted to focus on playing as a unit to respect what they've done for the club and the result will come, which it did," Jeffs said.

"These boys have worked really hard.

"They're a pleasure to coach because they listen to what they're asked, they've got belief now as a unit and they're actually playing rugby therefore they're getting results."

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