The club will on Saturday host its fourth straight Blowes Clothing Cup grand final day, with the first grade outfit set to tackle its fifth consecutive decider.

That’s an impeccable record in itself.

But a win at Endeavour Oval will gift Nigel Staniforth and the greens a third premiership in four years, something no club has managed to do in the last decade of Blowes Clothing Cup rugby.

The Roos run in 2006, 2007 and 2008 is the top flight’s last real dynasty. 

A third crown would lift this Emus crop to rarefied air.

And yet, a lot of people went cold on Emus at the back end of this season.

All the talk was about the Dogs and how their crop of young guns is capable of matching, and beating, the chooks.

How the Eagles, or the red men as they’ve been dubbed, were building to something special.

What about the champs, Forbes? They made a late run, but a premiership hangover is a cruel thing in small towns. It hit the Platypi hard in 2018.

City was never in it, that much was clear when no one was turning up to training in March. Roos had their campaign butchered by injury.

But nothing on Emus. The Blowes Clothing Cup version of the All Blacks, albeit on a slightly less grand scale. 

But in terms of consistency, they’re right up there with the rugby union Goliath.

Since the start of 2014, Emus has played 87 games. They’ve won 78 of them. A winning percentage of 89.6 is insane.

Three straight minor premierships, the 2017 minor crown undefeated. 

In five seasons, Emus has earned an incredible 72 bonus points.

For some perspective, Saturday’s opposition, Bathurst, hasn’t won the same amount of games in that time frame.

They’ve won 62, which is still decent. Emus, though, is side beyond decent. We’ll go with remarkable.

It’s hard being at the top of the tree for 12 months, let alone half-a-decade, and this group of Emus has done just that in arguably the toughest country rugby competition in NSW.

Staniforth, Havealeta, Goolagong, Hughes-Clapp, Green, the McLean boys … they’ve all played major rolls in that success, virtually from the beginning.

Premierships in 2015 and 2016 are the crowns but this group so desperately craves a third, one that would sit it up alongside the likes of Emus teams from the early 1970s and then that dominant side from 1999 through to 2002.

This Bulldogs side has talent. But you get the sense the time for Oxley’s team is yet to come.

The 2018 Blowes Clothing Cup grand final day at Endeavour Oval still looks like Emus’ time in the sun, let’s just hope we see some on Saturday.

Green, blue and gold. And lots of it.

The Blowes Clothing Cup lower grade grand finals are, largely, awash with the colours of the hosts, Orange Emus, and that of perennial lower grade performers the Bathurst Bulldogs.

The two clubs will match up in second grade and in third grade, too, the Bulldogs earning the first spot in those grades before Emus booked their place after preliminary finals victories at Ashwood Park, Bathurst last week.

It’s the second straight season Emus and Dogs have met in the second grade grand final, with the greens coming out on top in 2017.

In fact, Saturday’s reserve grade grand final will also be Emus’ fifth straight appearance in a second grade decider, the club’s top two grades having their success align.

Depth is an obvious strength at Emus.

So it’s no surprise the club’s third grade outfit is also in a grand final, also against the Dogs. Although the latter should head in as favourites after claiming the minor premiership in a seriously shortened campaign.

In colts, the Patty Berryman-led Roos boys wiped City to the tune of 32-7 at Endeavour Oval in the major semi-final, and will meet the Lions again in the decider.

Having Roos and City in the under 20s grand final means four of the Blowes Clothing Cup’s six clubs are represented on Saturday, while CSU Bathurst will also have the flag flown by the girls – the custards – in the Westfund Ferguson Cup big dance.

The students take on defending premiers, Bathurst, in the women’s grand final.

FIRST: Emus by 3.

SECONDS: Dogs by 10.

FERGUSON CUP: CSU by 5.

THIRDS: Dogs by 20.

COLTS: Roos by 15.