It was drive that helped the Bathurst Giants to a 15-15-105 to 6-10-46 win over their AFL Central West men's tier one rivals at George Park 1.

It was drive that saw the Giants open up an eight-point buffer over the third placed Tigers on the ladder.

It was also drive that saw Macauley declared best on ground for the Sir Doug Nicholls round fixture, one which recognises and celebrates Indigenous players and culture.

"I was pretty shocked to get it, there were a lot of people who really rose to the occasion. It's quite a privilege and I thought I was quite lucky to get that," Macauley said of the award.

"This was actually my first Indigenous round game ... so it was nice to play in it and getting clap sticks for best on ground was a nice little touch.

"The club makes a big deal out of the round, it's something that they organise every year and put a lot of time and effort into it. Designing the jumpers, we had a smoking ceremony and acknowledgment of country, we had the Indigenous flag up as well.

"It's something the guys are keen to play in, you always put in a good effort on a special day."

Just as the Giants were keen to mark the round with a win, so too were the visiting Tigers.

The Orange side led by one at the first change and by half-time held a narrow eight-point buffer over the Giants.

But in the third quarter the Giants ripped the game open. They booted seven goals four while at the same time restricted Orange to just a pair of behinds.

It gave the Giants a 10-13-73 to 5-7-37 lead. It's one they grew with an additional five majors in the final term.

Young forward Cooper Traves finished with five goals, while eight of his Giants team-mates kicked majors as well.

"Up until half-time it was pretty even. We knew it was going to be a tough, hard match," Macauley said.

"We versed Orange in round one and they played a really good, physical, strong game and they brought that intensity again early. It wasn't until the third quarter we sort of kicked away.

"We've got young players who can run in our team, so we ran out the game well. That third and fourth quarter when they started to get tired, that's when we ran it out."

While Macauley played in the centre for much of the contest before pushing forward late as he "started to seize up in the calves", his performance highlighted why he's one of the Giants' three vice captains.

Macauley is a player who leads by example.

"We've got a few in the leadership group, and we've got women's and ressies as well, so we're kind of one big leadership group this year," he said.

"We have a very young team, I'm only 23 but I'm one of the older heads in the team which is a bit strange. But I think it's good having a young leadership group ... all the young players look up to Bailey [Brien] and Jacob [Molkentin] especially despite their age.

"We've been around for a little while, most of us played Auskick together and played all through our juniors. That's a lot of our senior team, they've come through from juniors.

"Like Jenson Brown, he debuted in ones [against Tigers], he's one that's come through all the juniors. He's really keen and had a great pre-season."

Later in the evening when the Giants auctioned off the specially designed Indigenous jerseys - the club raised $9,157 - Macauley left it to his Dad to bid on his #1.

"Dad got it for me, I thought he would, I knew he wouldn't let it go," Macauley laughed.

"This year was the first year that the ressies have worn the jumpers as well and the club raised almost $10,000 auctioning them off. The Giants have got an Indigenous fund and it goes into that."

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