The win sets up a likely rematch for Macquarie against third-placed Central in the first week of the semi-finals. 

At St John Oval on Sunday, Macquarie converted a 10-nil halftime lead into a comfortable win.

Macquarie coach Adam Bettridge said he was extremely pleased with his team’s defensive effort.

“Our defence in that first half when they had the vast majority of possession was really first class,” Bettridge said.

“We had to repel them on several occasions from our line and had very few opportunities to attack, and when we did we were able to cross for two tries in the first half.”

Bettridge said the defensive resilience was a good trait to display on the eve of the semi-finals.

“Without doubt it was our defence that won us the game against Central. Although the scores were close at half time, I always felt that if we could get an even amount of possession in the second half we would put a score on them,” he said. 

It was also a performance that Macquarie needed to display, given their shock 22-14 loss to Maitland in Round 14.

“I was really impressed with our commitment and we tackled in numbers and really frustrated Central at times,” Bettridge said.

“All our forwards stood up and it was a much-improved effort from the previous game against Maitland. We have now set the standard against Central with that performance.”

Bettridge said a repeat performance was expected in the last round against cellar-dwellers Kurri Kurri in an Old Boys day at Lyall Peacock Field this Satuday.

”It has been a very good year for the club with the all senior men’s teams making the semi-finals,” Bettridge said.

The games against Kurri will kick off with the Ladies League Tag game at 11.40am, half an hour later due to the Old Boys function. First grade will kick off at 3.30pm after a presentation to Adam Swadling and Royce Geoffrey who play their 100^th games.