In the regular season the Bulls notched 22 wins and a draw from a possible 30 across the President’s Cup and Patron’s Shield grades, before going onto claim grand final silverware in both divisions.

Singleton president Shane Thompson said the decision to nominate for a return to rugby’s top table was “definitely on our horizon”.

“There’s no doubt we’re looking at it, it’s now just a matter of sitting down with the board and our players and planning the best approach for us to go forward now,” he said.

“It’s something that has to happen for the club; the club financially can’t survive with the number of forfeits and low number of people from other clubs turning up to games.

“Our players aren’t getting the opportunity to develop to their full potential because they’re not getting the opportunity to play against the better sides.”

After being left out of the 2013 competition, Singleton’s Colts outfit returned to the Premiers Colts division, finishing fifth after an 11-win season.

Thompson said it was important Singleton’s talented junior base had a clear developmental pathway and said the question of the Bulls’ re-entry is not a matter of if, but when.

“They (NHRU) have made it abundantly clear that they favour a Singleton team back in the Premier Grade,” he said.

“My feeling is it will be 2015, but if not 2015  we’ll be driving towards 2016 in our 50th anniversary year.”

The NHRU annual general meeting will be held in November, but Thompson said he expected a decision to be made before that to allow clubs to prepare for next season.