CENTRAL West head coach Col Jeffs and his troops had one ultimate goal in their NSW Country Championship Richardson Shield campaign last weekend - win, to earn promotion into the 2017 Caldwell Cup.
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The Blue Bulls did just that, in commanding fashion.
Playing at Armidale's Bellevue Oval Central West trampled Mid North Coast and Far North Coast in Saturday's preliminary games before razing hosts New England in Sunday's decider to claim the second tier championship.
The title win comes just 12 months after the Blue Bulls struggled through a winless 2015 Caldwell Cup.
"It's very pleasing to finish as strong as we did ... we were very clinical (in the decider)," a jubilant Jeffs said.
"We just wanted to get back into the top tier. We believe we are one of the top four sides in and the Caldwell Cup is the pinnacle of country rugby.
"We probably weren't expecting results that good (but) we were slightly confident and we thought if we could play to our potential, we could get the right results."
Buoyed by the space his dominant forwards and inside men gave him, Blue Bulls and former NSW Country Cockatoos centre Filisione Pauta crossed for a hat-trick in Central West's 68-12 win in Sunday's decider.
Riley Byrne and Mahe Fangupo both grabbed doubles, while Will Oldham, Benn Wright and Anthony Golding all helped themselves to five-pointers in the 10 tries to two rout as well.
Central West were never troubled in the decider, producing a performance New England skipper Joe Druce described as a "masterclass", where the floodgates opened when the first whistle was blown.
The Blue Bulls shot out to a 14-0 lead after just five minutes and piled on another four tries, including a first-half brace for Pauta, to lead 33-7 at the break.
Byrne and Oldham crossed just after half-time and Pauta completed his triple in the 58th minute.
Central West scored twice more in the dying stages, once after a barnstorming run from incumbent Cockatoos prop Benn Wright, to claim the 56-point win.
The day before, the Blue Bulls thumped Mid North Coast 31-10 and Far North Coast 47-0.
"Chris Miller, our captain and No.8, was inspirational (as was) hooker Tom Goolagong," Jeffs said.
"Riley (Byrne) was impressive and controlled the back very well, Filisione (Pauta) was very strong on the ball. It's hard to (single anyone out) because it's such a talented group."
