JOSH Toole is one step away from taking home the NSW Country Championships title as he and his Western team take on Newcastle on Sunday in Orange.

The Bathurst player steps onto Wade Park to take on the defending champions after Western enjoyed an unbeaten run at Griffith last weekend.

It’s a turnaround for Western who failed to take a win from the same competition last season.

After taking out three from three matches – two of them bonus point victories – on his way to topping the Southern Pool, Toole is anything but short on confidence for the decider against Newcastle.

“They are a classy team. We underwent a tough weekend just gone, and we’re going to have to step it up again against these guys. I feel like we can take on everyone with this team we’ve got,” he said.

“Another year of playing together as a team has helped us, we’ve had plenty of pre-season training, worked out our goals and so far everyone has helped contribute to the team.”

Western were a cut above on their way to booking their place against the Northern Pool winners.

They were hardly troubled on their way to chasing Riverina’s 101, kept Southern well away from their 293 total and scored yet another comfortable win against last year’s pool champions Illawarra by 92 runs.

The Oxford Centennials club captain made the most of his short time with the bat to score a quick-fire unbeaten half century in the team’s match against Southern.

The common factor Toole would reference to the wins was a solid foundation laid by his top order across all three games.

“I knew we had a good side. Obviously last year we had zero wins, but they were all tight games, one by a run and another by only a few more. We had a good squad again and had plenty of confidence,” he said.

“On the first day we rolled Riverina for a bit over 100, the boys bowled very tight there, and then we only lost four on the way to that. That gave us bonus points and also an early finish, which is great for a three-day carnival.

“On the next day ... I came in with 10 to go and got a quick 50, but the boys set us up well at the top of the order. 

“We got another bonus point there which put us in a great position. We knew Illawarra would be the toughest and they put up the biggest fight. 

“Mitch Bower helped set us up there with his hundred and Jordan Moran also played a great innings. After that we just had to bowl it tight and that helped wrap up a great carnival for us.”