Bulls captain Will Carrigan said a gaggle of youngsters well schooled in rugby at esteemed Sydney learning institutions – such as St Joseph’s College, Sydney Church of England Grammar School and The King’s School – had returned home to work on their families’ farms and were making their presence felt in first grade this season.

He named them as No.8 Sam Callow, flanker Lachlan Smith, second-rowers Cameron Ledingham and Will Smith and winger Josh Walker.

“They’ve been trained really well at city schools,” he said. “They’re getting used to different game plans.

“It’s obviously a bit slower rugby (than what they are used to) but it’s a lot tougher – they’re bigger blokes and older blokes.”

Carrigan described the fifth-placed Bulls’ start to the season as reasonable but he expected a form spike once the side gelled better and “once we get to know each other a bit better and the new players get used to playing country rugby – start putting some moves together and bond really well.

“It is (beneficial having the younger players) considering we lost a lot of first graders last season,” he added. “They all retired. They have kids and families now.

“These boys (the youngsters) rocked up at the start of the year and they’re pushing real hard. Every single person is pushing hard at training trying to fight for positions.”

Along with the youth injection, the Bulls also have several new Fiji signings.

Given all the new players, Carrigan said the start to the season had been a steep learning curve.

“Wait until the second round when everything starts flowing well,” he said. “Hasn’t been a bad start, anyway.

“(Against Scone last round) we started off a bit soft and weren’t really ready. But when we got to the second half we really started putting things together.”

The Bulls rebounded from a 36-18 round-three loss to the Pirates to beat Scone 42-10 at home last round, lifting them to two wins for the season. They play Barraba away on Saturday.