Oxley will looking to help the Bulldogs become the first team since the Dubbo Kangaroos of 2006-08 to win three premierships in a row, and will welcome back a host of talented players for that bid.

For 'Fox' it will be tough to step away from the Bathurst job but he sees it a necessary step to take if he's to fully dedicated himself to his representative coaching duties into the future.

Oxley was named coach for last year's NSW Country Cockatoos team at the Australian Rugby Shield thanks to his string of recent Caldwell Cup successes with the Central West Blue Bulls.

"We've enjoyed some great success but I need someone else with the enthusiasm to come in and take on the job. A different voice is always helpful to keep things fresh," Oxley said.

"I made a decision that it would be the best thing for the club if I stepped back. I won't say that I won't coach again though. To freshen up and come back excited and enthused is the ideal thing to do.

"I feel like I've contributed what I could. It's a draining and difficult position. There's a lot of expectations that I put on myself and also what the community places on Bathurst rugby, and I'm glad we're in the position where we've enjoyed some success.

"I want to invest more energy into representative coaching over the next few years. I've got another opportunity with Country this year. The experience at the Australia Rugby Shield was fantastic, and it's the highest level I've ever coached at, with a lot of Super Rugby-contracted talent at that carnival."

Oxley's attempt for premiership number three falls on an important anniversary season for the Bulldogs.

While he'll be without some key players this time around he's excited to see plenty of injured players from the 2023 campaign returning to the fold.

"Jarrod Zuvela has moved to the Central Coast, 'Crackers' [Zac Taylor] has moved to Port Macquarie and Jason Corliss has moved to Newcastle but Justin Mobbs is looking at coming back to play," Oxley said.

"Those three guys who are leaving were really important for us in the grand final and throughout the season.

"We had 12 major injuries last year so we get a few of them back and we'll end up having the depth to do what we need to do in our 150th year.

"We had 34 players that played first grade last year. The depth at the club has really been key.

"It's also really exciting to see colts coming back into the competition. I'm very happy about that because the club is getting back to the position that it was in many years ago ... and it means we've got our future in our hands."

Oxley's achievements with the Bulldogs were celebrated with his recent awarding of a life membership.

As he gets set for the new season he'll have a stack of representative-level talent all waiting in the wings to make their return from serious injuries.

Among those are the likes of Mark Donnelly (jaw), Brad Glasson (thumb), Bailey Warren (knee), Lamarn Ma'a (bicep) and Joel Harper (leg).

The added experience of former Country Cockatoo representative Mobbs will also bolster the forward pack.

Bulldogs still found a way to take down Orange Emus in last year's grand final at Ashwood Park despite losing much of their squad to injury.

It marked two straight years that the Bathurst men won at home over the greens on the big day.

Bulldogs will host Emus in a grand final rematch in round one, which kicks-off on April 20.

"We get Emus and Cowra at home twice," Oxley said.

"Forbes are rebuilding strongly, with Mahe Fangupo taking on the captain-coaching role, and Dubbo will be disappointed after last year's performance. We have to play them both away twice.

"Emus wouldn't have enjoyed the last few grand final results and we're under no illusions that it's going to be the same deal for us. We need to take things up another level."