In his eyes, if his troops are to win the NSW Country Rugby Union Championship’s top tier they would have to take down the might of Newcastle-Hunter at some stage anyway, so why not do it first-up and stamp their authority on country week?

“If we didn’t get Newcastle-Hunter first-up I’m certain we’d have to play them in the final anyway, to win the Caldwell Cup you’ll usually have to beat them, so I think it’s largely irrelevant if you play them first or second,” Oxley said.

‘We’ve obviously been drawn to play them first-up, but I’m happy to hit them when they’re fresh and beating them would definitely send a message.”

He conceded knocking the reigning champions off will require a special performance though, especially considering the two sides met in the opening round last year as well. Newcastle-Hunter ran riot that day at Port Macquarie, winning 58-8.

“If we play a loose, expansive game and we don’t go forward first-up against Newcastle then they’ll be really challenging to get on top of. We didn’t go forward last year, although there were other factors,” Oxley said, one of those other factors was an unnecessary yellow card that proved costly.

“But if we play through our strength which is definitely our pack and win some front-foot ball and then run through guys like (halfback) Lloyd Rogers and (five-eighth) Mahe Fangupo then I think we’ll be pretty tough to beat too.

“Our set-piece should be strong too, we’ve got good quality props and I think Jarrod Hall is the best lineout thrower in the [Blowes Clothing Cup] as well.”

Oxley is certain the Blue Bulls’ starting XV is “good enough to win”, but of course that type of comment raises questions about whether the side’s bench – or finishers, as they seem to referred to now – is of high enough quality to match it with the top dogs’.

The answer is Oxley’s eyes is yes.

“I’m sure they’ll think they’ve got a better bench than us, with the depth they have in their zone I imagine they’ll have some cattle to come on later in the game that’s of a similar standard to the guys starting,” Oxley predicted.

“But we don’t lose anything from our bench either so I don’t think that’s an issue at all. We’ve selected the guys that are playing the right type of rugby now and not worried about names or reputations, so I’m sure all those guys will come on and prove why they deserve their jumpers.”

Central West faces Newcastle-Hunter from 4.30pm on Saturday afternoon at Warren’s Victoria Park, with Illawarra facing Mid North Coast in the Caldwell Cup’s other preliminary game at 1.30pm.

The final will be played at 2.20pm on Sunday afternoon.