Emus produced a grinding 70-minute performance to trump second-finishers Bathurst Bulldogs 21-11 in Forbes on Saturday – their first win over the Bulldogs this year – while the Lions led at half-time but were run down by Parkes, losing 17-10.

“It was a very good performance the boys produced. We’ve panicked at different times this year but even when we went behind on Saturday the boys stayed level-headed, kept their cool and trusted our processes,” Emus coach Steve Levett said.

“Fitness played a big part too I think. We’ve worked very hard in that department this season and I think it’s starting to pay-off, we’ve outlasted a couple of teams recently.”

As a result of the wins, the greens will host minor premiers Dubbo Kangaroos in Saturday’s major semi-final – the venue is determined by first grade results – while the Lions travel to Dubbo to play Bulldogs in Sunday’s elimination final.

“That’s the crucial point for us I think, being able to have another crack at Dubbo on our turf. We didn’t get that opportunity during the regular season.

“We pushed them all the way when we played them in Dubbo although we went down, so we’re looking forward to the challenge.

“I feel for Orange City too, fifth isn’t an accurate reflection of their season.”

Emus led Bulldogs early after super-versatile prop Matt Findlay slotted a penalty goal inside the opening 10 minutes, but the Bathurst side replied with a penalty of their own to lock things up just minutes later.

The Orange side piggy-backed Bulldogs down-field on multiple occasions in the opening half, conceding a string of two or three penalties in a row more than once, gifting Bathurst possession and field position.

“Most of those penalties were for being offside, so it was an easy fix,” Levett said.

The Bathurst side peppered the greens on the back of those penalties and eventually sustained pressure paid dividends when they crossed out wide. The conversion missed, leaving the Bathurst side five points in front at 8-3.

It stayed that way until the final minute of the half, when Emus tighthead prop and undeniable man-of-the-match Michael Graham carried three Bulldogs over the line to score. The try went unconverted, Seb Backhouse’s shot hit the post, to leave the game deadlocked at 8-8 at the break.

Bulldogs struck first in the second period with another penalty goal, Backhouse cancelled it out 20 minutes from full-time though with one of his own.

At 11-11 with 15 minutes to go Rob Thorburn burrowed his way over from close range to give Emus back the lead. Backhouse nailed the conversion and then another penalty to seal the 21-11 victory.

On Sunday, Orange City welcomed back a number of stars who were missing from their last-gasp loss to Orange Emus the week before, most notably fullback Jackson Coote and inside centre Paul Sligar.

The Lions took the upper hand and a 7-0 lead early in the game through a converted Sligar try, taking advantage of a slow Boars’ start.

Parkes hit back with an unconverted try of their own, before Coote nailed a penalty goal to extend the Lions’ lead to 10-5 at half-time.

Parkes captain-coach Israel Symington latched onto a stunning flick pass midway through the second half to lock the game up at 10-10, setting up a grandstand finish in the process.

Although Orange City looked the better of the two sides for most of the game, Parkes went over again from close range and this one was converted to give the Boars a seven-point buffer at 17-10.

That’s how it stayed, giving Parkes a crack at Bulldogs in the minor semi-final and eliminating Orange City from the title race.

It’s the first time since 2010 the Lions won’t feature in the reserve grade grand final.