The former Wee Waa co-coach has been doing the same in union.

He tore Inverell apart two weeks ago and was instrumental in Narrabri getting the points against Pirates on Saturday.

More known for his league exploits, union isn’t foreign to Cochrane.

He played it in his school days and was a state representative player.

At the time he was also playing league and contracted to the Brisbane Broncos, and ended up pursuing league interests.

He is still playing a bit of league and has “helped” the Panthers out a couple of home games but the Blue Boars are his primary focus. He’s really enjoying playing with them.

“The Blue Boars have made it more exciting for me,” he said.

“I was actually going to retire.

“Jack (Findley – Narrabri president) said to me ‘would you like to have a bit of a run’.”

So he did.

“I didn’t know a lot of the boys. Them making me feel welcome sealed it,” Cochrane said.

It had been a “long time” since he’d played union – at least eight years –  but it hasn’t taken Cochrane long to find his feet.

“I found (the transition) quite normal because I’d played previously,” he said.

“It’s a lot easier too being a back.”

“I play the same sort of role in league and union.”

The game itself has changed a bit from all those years ago though.

It’s a lot quicker and the sides are a lot bigger.

Cochrane can still elude the defence pretty well though as he showed on Saturday.

He scored the try to put the Blue Boars in front in the second half, beating four or five defenders.

Generally he didn’t enjoy the space he has the last couple of weeks but that didn’t surprise him.

“When you play big games the defence is a lot better,” he said.

Pirates knew they had to close him down, along with halves partner Matt Schwager. 

They are the rudder of the Blue Boars attack.

“We’ve kicked off from the get-go,” Cochrane said.

“His experience coming from Sydney and his organisation makes it easier for me.” 

“All I have to do is catch the ball.”

He does a bit more than that. 

Schwager was one of their best on Saturday, along with Henry Curtin and Michael Cain.

The 41-34 win was a big one for the Blue Boars both in terms of their confidence and their season.

It was their first against Pirates at home for about five seasons. They also needed a win against one of the top sides.

Up until Saturday, Gunnedah was the only one of the top sides they’d played and things didn’t go so well then.

Saturday wasn’t up there with one of their better performances either. They made a lot of mistakes and gave away a lot of penalties.

Co-coach Tom Cullen put a lot of them down to being lazy at the breakdown.

“One thing we’ve definitely got to work on is releasing the player when they’re on the ground,” he said. “We’re getting pinged week in, week out.” 

Their lineout also didn’t function well.

“It’s the second week in a row our lineout has been poor,” he said.