It was a weekend of blow-outs in the Second Division Shield, with Werris Creek cleaning up Bundarra 66-12 in the other match to take first place on for and against from equal first Boggabri.

But it was the Cowboys' 56-10 win at home that all but settled the top four with three rounds remaining.

Injury and work commitments have seen the Cowboys playing with bare minimum numbers over the last few weeks, but with a few key players returning and a few on the bench the Cowboys rode back into premiership contention.

Halves Matt Wilson and Shaun Ferguson brought some good direction back to the team, although it was Mitch Brown that stole the show, the centre scoring four tries and kicking five goals in his first game in five weeks.

Coach Luke Taylor said that the last month for the club was a bit like Wee Waa on Saturday.

"We busted our bums but were just running out of legs," Taylor said.

"We stuck to our guns well today and when it opened up we stuck to our composure."

"If we can keep the nucleus playing and training every week I will be very disappointed if we don't stay in the four."

In the Plate, Bingara continued to shoot up the ladder, the Bullets knocking off leaders Walcha in Walcha, while Barraba pipped Bendemeer 25-24 and Manilla belted Quirindi 52-8 to get within a point of Walcha up top.