He’s their “Mr Fix-it”, and Sam Collins will be a welcome inclusion as Pirates look to rediscover their winning aura at Gunnedah on Saturday.
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“He’s a massive boost,” Pirates skipper Conrad Starr said of the back rower-come centre-come five-eighth.
“He just adds a calm head and direction.”
Also a very strong defender, Collins is one of a few changes from the side that went down to Walcha 25-22.
Starr was philosophical about the loss, which was the premiers’ second in a row.
“Losing always is hard but it is inevitable,” he said, adding that it’s not a bad thing.
And the fact that it hurt so much shows they still care, which in turn “means we are going to work harder”.
He has noticed a lift in intensity this week.
“The intensity at training has certainly stepped up, which is a good sign,” Starr said.
“When the intensity is down there might be a staleness there.”
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The number eight hasn’t been named in the run-on side - to give his body a bit of a rest, he said – and will instead assume the coaching duties with Mat Kelly away.
They have spent some solid time on the scrum machine this week to work on a few things.
It’s been more about though getting everyone working together, Starr said, rather than any technical deficiencies.
“It’s easy to think just because you’ve got a couple of good players back it’s all going to click,” he said.
The set pieces generally against the Rams weren’t up to Pirates’ usual standard and Starr said will be looking for the lineout to be a bit more crisp.
He also spoke about needing to execute under fatigue better.
The Red Devils will pose a challenge for the 80 minutes and be particularly tough in the forwards.
“They’ve always got a big forward pack. We expect them to rumble it through the forwards,” Starr said.
The match of the round will be at Moree where the top of the table Bulls host the third-placed Barraba/Gwydir.
In the other game Scone are at home to Inverell.
