Bathurst Giants chase their third straight derby victory over Bathurst Bushrangers this season

That gets put to the test this Saturday when the team host the Bushrangers in the fourth Bathurst derby of the season at George Park 1.

Having gone 1-0 down in the head-to-head with the Bushrangers after the first derby of the season the Giants have since won the last two contests and marked themselves as the team to beat.

There's a lot riding on this one.

Victory this Saturday will almost certainly give the Giants the first spot in the grand final, assuming that their recent form carries through into the remaining three rounds after this weekend.

If their 162-point mauling of the Dubbo Demons last week is anything to go by then the Giants are entering the next derby in perfect form.

"It's always tough to play Dubbo on the road so for the team to play like they did, with the few outs that we had, was really positive," Giants vice-captain Jacob Molkentin said.

"It's really good to see things all coming together."

Giants have built themselves up across all areas of the park during their ongoing eight game winning run.

In their latest two games against the Bushrangers they were able to push clear with strong fourth quarter performances.

They'll face a Bushies side eager to improve after they scraped past a determined Tigers side by just a single goal last Saturday.

Molkentin said it's nice to come into the game with a four point buffer over their rivals but he'd like the team to approach the game as if they were all square.

"Look, it's a bit cliche, but we want to take it one game at a time and not get too excited," he said.

"We need to keep executing the way that we have been and keep playing positive footy.

"It's pretty good motivation for this game, going closer to securing that grand final spot. That's pretty special. It's what we've worked towards since the start of the year and the group is really excited to keep working towards that."

Giants get a big boost to a forward line already playing to its potential.

"Jayden Nelder will be back, which is really exciting, especially considering that the forward line looked as good as it has all year last week," Molkentin said.

"Putting him into that group is a really exciting prospect."

The derby gets underway from 2.15pm Saturday.

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