The last time Pirates played at Ken Chillingworth Oval their quest for a fourth straight Central North premiership was hanging by a thread.
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It was the penultimate round of the 2019 season and they were no certainties to even make the top four.
In the end they just snuck in, going on to then knock off Gunnedah, Narrabri and Walcha to claim the silverware.
On Saturday they will make their long-awaited home return, hosting Scone.
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Their first opportunity to play at home in almost 20 months, co-coach Mick Squires said there had been that extra buzz at training this week.
"Very excited they (players) are," he said.
He and Todd Pascoe have resisted tinkering with the 15 that was so impressive in their season opener against Walcha last week, looking to build on that and also build some momentum heading into a tough three-week run.
After the Brumbies they have Narrabri away, Moree at home and Gunnedah away.
"We've broken down this season into four five-week blocks," Squires said.
"We feel like if we have a good first five weeks that will set us up."
As much as there was to like about the performance against the Rams, there is plenty of room for improvement, and Squires spoke about cutting out some of the errors and penalties.
"Being a little bit rusty last week we missed a few plays," he said.
"We'll be looking to be a bit more clinical in the backs with our passing."
They also gave away a few more penalties than he and Pascoe would have liked with discipline one of their big focuses this year.
"One of our big goals this year is to be a lot better as far as giving away penalties and cards," Squires said.
He said they are "pretty curious" about what Scone will bring up, having not really heard too much about them. They also had the bye last week.
On past encounters they are preparing for a physical contest.
"They've always got a strong forward pack and generally some classy backs," he said.
"When we've played them, it's always tight for the first 50-60 minutes."
PIRATES: 1 Barton Leach, 2 Timothy Collins, 3 Nicholas McCrohon, 4 Jye Taggart, 5 Andrew Wynne, 6 Chad Lambert, 7 Jake Douglas, 8 Conrad Starr, 9 Jackson Sharpe, 10 Andrew Moodie, 11 Damian Reti, 12 Mitchell Dening, 13 Navi Tiko, 14 Oliver Wright, 15 Brendan Rixon. 16 Anthony O'Connor, 17 Angus White, 18 Brenton Long, 19 Toby Maslen, 20 James Trappel, 21 Simon Trappel, 22 Brandon Parry, 23 Steven Ford.
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