Lyons, from Molong, joined the Bulls and Marlins at Ashwood Park and engaged in a question and answer session with Central West before also helping out with drills.

The Bulls and Marlins have fostered a strong relationship following last season’s colts trial and that continued on Saturday, although injuries did prevent Central West and Manly playing a full-contact trial.

It was still a really useful learning experience though, Oxley said.

“David Lyons was outstanding. David talked about his time in Molong and Central West Rugby, being first selected at 15 and then just three years later playing for Australia,” Oxley said.

“We asked him about his expectations when he made the jump to the top level but it all just happened so quick he didn’t have time to think about it.

“He showed great mental toughness during his time at with the Wallabies ... and it was great for our guys to hear about his experiences, and that an 18-year-old from Molong can become a Wallaby.

“He ran some drills after the session and the Bulls really enjoyed that.”

Lyons wasn’t the only one who left a big impression on Oxley.

The Marlins squad, and their experienced mentor Billy Melrose, gave the Central West squad a great opportunity to see what areas of their game they needed to work on.

“They gave us probably one of the best rugby experiences I’ve been involved with,” Oxley said.

“Their coach and players were assisting our juniors a lot. We’ve had Shute Shield teams come to Bathurst in the past but none have engaged with our players like they did.

“Because of injuries and players away we didn’t have a full game against them. What was interesting for us to see was that they don’t really do things a whole lot differently to us – they just do it quicker. It showed that we need to be making our decisions just that extra bit faster.

“We could have had a little bit of full contact but with the team we had we knew we wouldn’t handle their size and power. We just went through our systems and that’s helped us to continue moving forward in our preparation.

“Matt Tink, our Central West CEO, has a coaching resume which is exceptional. He led our boys through one of the best scrum sessions I’ve been to. It’s great for people to know that getting into the Central West squad gives you learning experiences like that.”

The 2018 Caldwell Cup build-up continues for the Bulls this Saturday when they take on Central Coast in a trial at CSU Bathurst.

Colts kick-off from 1.30pm and the seniors follow at 2.45pm, the games will be the final chance for hopefuls to impress coaching staff.