After a wayward preparation that included two trial losses and another one forfeited, the Blue Bulls found their rhythm at Warren to qualify for the semi-finals of the Caldwell Cup and another showdown with country heavyweights Newcastle.

Blue Bulls mentor Mick Gray said his players stood up when it counted most.

“They’ve been hurting a bit, a lot of people haven’t been too supportive of us but we played on the players’ pride on Saturday and we’ve proved plenty of people wrong,” Gray said.

Five-pointers from Narromine guns Lachie McCutcheon, Orange City prop John Gander, Narromine centre Luke Harding and new Orange City centre Dan Cullinane set up the win for the Blue Bulls.

Cullinane had a perfect day with the boot, too, slotting home seven from seven.

“I’m very happy for the guys, they do all of the work,” Gray said.

“They didn’t want to come out and play poorly with so much on the line. They all really stepped up.”

Central West skipper Josh Tremain agreed.

Tremain said the Blue Bulls were the dominant side on Saturday, despite a barrage of turnovers at the kick-off.

“I thought everyone played well. Our No.8 Hayden Tidswell went well and Lachie McCutcheon played well, too. All in all everyone stepped up,’ Tremain said.

The Blue Bulls now take on Newcastle in Lismore this Saturday.

Twelve months ago the two sides met in the same match and Newcastle ran rampant, keeping the Blue Bulls tryless as they won their semi-final clash 40-3 and went on to win back-to-back Country Championships titles.

Tremain, however, is quietly confident of surprising Newcastle this time around.

“They’ll be the benchmark. They’ve won it for the last two years,” Tremain said.

“I think this game will be the final in a way. If we can knock off Newcastle then I think we can go all the way. But we’ll just take things one step at a time for now.”

In the other semi-final match in Lismore Central Coast meet Central North.

Central North defeated Illawarra 27-20 in an upset to qualify for the Caldwell Cup while Central Coast just edged out Far North Coast 13-10.

Newcastle defeated New England easily to qualify.

The Central West colts will also take on Newcastle in the final four this weekend after thumping Central North 71-7 at Quirindi on Saturday night.

Orange Emus fly-half Mitch Evers starred, scoring twice and kicking eight conversions for a personal haul of 26 points.

The Country Championships start in Lismore on Saturday.

❏ CENTRAL WEST BLUE BULLS 37 (Dan Cullinane, Lachie McCutcheon, John Gander, Luke Harding tries; Dan Cullinane 4 conv, 3 pen goals) def WESTERN PLAINS 15.

❏ CENTRAL WEST COLTS 71 (Mitch Evers 2, Josh Dodd 2, Elliot Bryce 2, Will Aisake, Nick Mullen, Nick Gell, Joe Nash, David Birch tries; Evers 8 conv) def CENTRAL NORTH COLTS 7.