The 27-26 win coupled with Moree's shock loss to Scone saw the Blue Boars leapfrog their arch-rivals into second with two rounds remaining.

"There's a lot of belief in the group," Duncan said.

"We haven't been beaten in the second round."

They are still to face the Bulls, with the two sides to do battle in the final game, but have rolled two of their fellow top four counterparts in Walcha and Gunnedah, and now a Pirates side he rates as the best side they've played all season.

"We can't look too far ahead, we've got Quirindi this week and then Moree at home to finish the round.

"(But) We're definitely looking at second spot," he said.

He reflected on the maturity of the side, highlighting that as the biggest difference between this season and last.

"Last season we lost games we should have won. We put ourselves in positions to win and didn't finish it off," he said.

"This year we're winning the tight games."

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Duncan pinpointed the Bulls game in the first round as the game that really kick-started their run.

"We were on the end of a horrible penalty count and only got beaten by three points," he said.

He said he said to them after the game it's the happiest he could be for a team that lost.

On Saturday their illdiscipline let them down early with penalties a big factor in them being down 19-nil. They were giving away "six or eight penalties in a row" and when they did get the ball were turning it over straight away, which meant they were constantly defending their line.

They managed to get a bit of territory just before half-time, fullback Michael Cain crossing to make it 19-7 at the break.

Duncan said it gave them a confidence boost going into the second half.

"It changes the guys mindset from these guys are champions to we have a chance," he said, adding that they know that if they are "anywhere within 20 points of any team at half-time we're a massive chance."

It was just a matter of controlling the ball.

In the second half they did that a lot better and once they got an even flow of the penalty count, Duncan said they "showed their true colours". Down 26-10 midway through the second half they ran in 17 unanswered points to get the win.

"We scored some really good tries," he said.

"The Pirates guys just ran out of gas with 20 to go."

Cain crucially kicked them one ahead with five minutes to go.

Pirates did have a chance to reclaim the lead but their penalty attempt was unsuccessful, much to Duncan, and the Blue Boars' supporters relief.

"I thought here we go again. We've just pushed out to the front and they're going to snatch it back," Duncan said.