Tim started at hooker while Sam and Andrew made their first appearance this season off the bench as the premiers snapped their three-game losing run with a 49-24 win over the Brumbies.

Half-back Jackson Sharpe and winger Wesley Rooney both crossed twice for Pirates, who showed some promising signs in attack but still have a lot of work to do in defence.

"We were good in attack but I thought our defence was still very poor," coach Mat Kelly said.

"There's plenty of holes there that we need to fix up quick smart."

Critical of the way the previous week against Gunnedah they were looking to go wide before they were going forward, Kelly said on Saturday they got the momentum before they went wide.

Being able to hold their own in the scrum helped on that front.

READ ALSO:

"We were actually going forward in some scrums which set the platform," Kelly said.

The lineout didn't function as well, but was hampered by an injury to Tim Collins, which affected his throwing capacity.

The returning veteran copped a knock early in the game and broke his thumb early.

"He goes under the knife today (Monday) to get some screws in his hand," Kelly said.

He did though play out the game and "had a cracker".

In only his second start this season, Collins picked up the two points behind Rooney, who Kelly said "was good for us" with younger brother Sam earning the one for his 25 minute cameo off the bench.

"It wasn't long before he had an impact," Kelly said.

"He got on there and with his first touch set up a try."

Kelly brought him on at five-eighth for Jye Paterson, who playing just his second game of first grade "had a good start to the game".

He said winger Harry Morrow and number eight Doug McKillop were strong for the home side. Morrow caused them a few headaches outwide scoring a double while McKillop was a real handful in the middle and picked up the zone three best and fairest points despite playing in a well-beaten side.