The 32-29 extra-time defeat to Central Coast was a tough result for the Bulls to take, especially after leading by 10 points in the lead up to half-time, though the fact they got close to a third straight title speaks volumes to the work that's gone in to developing the game in the region.

Speaking shortly after Sunday's grand final loss, captain Peter Fitzsimmons said the high quality clash started to get away from the team just before half-time.

"It was a great game. You couldn't ask for much more out of a final," he said.

"We just didn't capitalise on our opportunities and they took all of theirs. They stepped up when they needed to. We stayed in it and grounded our way back into the contest but we just couldn't go that extra mile.

"I'm not really sure what happened. The momentum just shifted and they started to get a lot of possession. I'd say it was a few silly mistakes from us and once they got the ball they never really gave it back to us," he said.

"They starved us of possession late. When you're fatigued, and you do eventually get the ball back, you've already put your energy into stopping them. If we didn't let that momentum shift then we wouldn't have had to do so much of that defensive work."

Fitzsimmons was full of praise for the squad in the lead up to the long weekend campaign - calling it one of the best he's been a part of - and that's an opinion that hasn't changed after the grand final loss.

He believes that the depth of region means that no matter who makes the return for the 2023 trip, Central West will remain a series Caldwell Cup threat in the years to come.

"That's just footy. It wasn't our day," he said.

"We'll come back to this next year with the same amount of faith in our structure and in what we're doing. We had 10 people on debut this year alongside our core group, and that shows that we pick the best 15 - whether they're new or if they've been there before.

"We trust the coaches and the committee who lead our direction. We turn up and put that into place."

Central West lined up for their grand final with Central Coast after their colts and women's teams had claimed grand final glory earlier in the day.

The open men's side might have missed out on a historic third straight title but the region still

"It was an amazing job by our women's and colts. We didn't have our colts last year, and that left a hole, but they've come back to get the win. Then there's the women's with their three-peat," he said.

"There's definitely nothing wrong with our program. It's just the one loss across all three Central West teams over many games."

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