Marnus Labuschagne settled in for the afternoon as Queensland made a good fist of chasing down NSW's first innings total in their Sheffield Shield clash.
The Bulls moved to 2-184 by stumps on day two in response to the Blues' 381 at Wollongong's North Dalton Park in a match both sides will be keen to win to secure a spot in the final.
Test star Labuschagne was in fine touch, stroking nine boundaries in his 81 not out while Usman Khawaja was unbeaten on 12.
The Bulls got off to an edgy start with Test tweaker Nathan Lyon (2-52) having former Australian teammate Joe Burns caught behind for 15 to leave the visitors 1-27.
Lyon has picked up 35 wickets for the season and looks set to finish the competition with the most dismissals, particularly if the Blues make the final.
But that is still up in the air after the Bulls had made such a promising start.
Opener Bryce Street (59) put on 122 runs with Labuschagne before he was caught in the deep when sweeping Lyon.
Earlier, Jason Sangha scored his third first-class century as NSW set up a strong first-innings total.
After a lean season where he hadn't cracked a 50 in the competition, Sangha (103) stood up when it counted.
With the Blues resuming at 4-299, the wickets came steadily for the Bulls as the hosts chased some quick runs to polish off the innings.
But it didn't stop Sangha from reaching his milestone, the 21-year-old moving from 81 overnight before eventually mis-timing a drive to Matt Renshaw off the bowling of Brendan Doggett.
Sangha clubbed 15 fours in his 202-ball stay.
Doggett was the outstanding bowler with 4-79 with Xavier Bartlett and the returning Mitch Swepson each picking up two wickets.
