Central North Rugby: Starr turns in five-star performance

The Pirates skipper was justifiably adjudged the player of the grand final after a typically damaging performance, although he was noticeably surprised when his name was announced.

“It’s one of those things, when it’s a score (66-19) like that, everyone is out there working hard,” he said.

He thought there were any number of players that could have won the award. But with three tries and a generally strong allround game he was hard to go past.

The number eight, with his knack for finding the tryline and powerful running game, was one of the missing pieces of the puzzle for Pirates this season. He played just four games last year and without him they didn't have the same punch through the forwards.

It was possibly to their benefit this year, quashing any plans to hang up the boots.

"I didn't want to leave it at that," Starr said.

He couldn’t have been prouder to lead them on Saturday. It was his fourth premiership with Pirates but first as skipper.

“It’s awesome, a great feeling,” he said.

“It’s been a few years coming.”

A lot of hard work has gone into it getting the reward they did on Saturday. 

One of the areas they worked the hardest is the scrum.

“We made a pact at the start of the year that’s when it stopped. We wouldn’t accept going backwards anymore,” Starr said.

They turned it into a real weapon. That was there for all to see on Saturday with Pirates monstering the Blue Boars in the scrum.

Another cornerstone was their defence. It was strong all year and a reflection on the camaradarie between the players.