The Bombers should now finish in fourth place and will take a lot of confidence out of the match.

Bombers coach Simon Dandy said the win was much needed.

"We really needed that win," Dandy said.

"We really needed to step up our play. We were probably only at 50 or 60 per cent. In the last quarter we lifted and were at 80 or 90 per cent and that made all the difference."

Dandy said the Bombers had trailed for much of the match.

"It was a pretty messy match for the first three quarters," Dandy said.

"But we broke it open in the final quarter."

Veteran defender Adrian Wade impressed his coach.

"Adrian has had a great year," Dandy said.

"The old-stager has just been fantastic."

The Panthers had a horror start to the day with key forward Nathan Sachse injuring his quad muscles during the pre-game warm-up.

"He was not taken out as a precaution, he couldn't kick the ball," Webb said.

"It is a real concern but we don't know how serious and I don't think he will play next round. Hopefully he will be right for the finals."

Webb said he had been disappointed by the loss.

"I was pretty disappointed, so the guys were pretty disappointed," Webb said.

"I don't know why they had such a good last term.

"Maybe we were a little lackadaisical after the bye last week."

Key forward Scott Niewand filled in well for Sachse.

"Niewand is a young bloke who got his chance at centre half forward," Webb said.

"He will get some confidence out of this match. He could be a pretty good player in the future."

Both sides will meet again in the first week of the finals and Dandy said the match would be completely different.

"It is going to be a tough game," Dandy said.

"It will be a different story because of the pressure of finals."

Webb said the Panthers would be much improved.

"We will have to be better," Webb said.

"We will have to get some revenge."