A first-quarter onslaught set up Queanbeyan's 97-point win over Tuggeranong on Sunday. The 16.18 (114) to 2.5. (17) victory takes the Tigers back to first on the ladder and coach Adrian Pavese already has his sights set on the minor premiership.

"We keep building belief," Pavese said. "When the whips are cracking in the second half of the season you start pushing for the top-two finish.

"It was a consistent effort to ground out the win against Tuggeranong. It wasn't pretty at times but we found our way through and it was good."

Alex Page went down early in the third quarter with a calf strain and will miss next week's clash with Eastlake. The forward was one of four Tigers taken off the field with niggling injuries and left the team without a bench option in the final quarter.

Tuggeranong showed promising signs and pushed the wounded Tigers to the limit. Coach Peter Ashcroft believes the Hawks are in a "better position than the result showed" after his young side bounced back in the second half.

"We're fighting harder and we're contesting harder," Ashcroft said. "We may be easybeats on the scoreboard, some might say, but certainly when [the opposition] comes off the ground they know they've fought for it.

"There's more belief in what we're trying to do. We're building towards it and that doesn't happen overnight."

AFL CANBERRA - ROUND 7

Eastlake Demons 16.20 (116) bt Gunaghlin Jets 4.9 (33); Ainslie Tricolours 12.9 (81) bt Belconnen Magpies 8.8 (56); Queanbeyan Tigers 16.18 (114) bt Tuggeranong Hawks 2.5 (17).