They haven't had their hands on it for a few years but the minor premiership is Pirates' to lose after they outgunned Gunnedah in Saturday's top of the table clash.
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In front of a big crowd at Ken Chillingworth Oval for Ladies Day and to celebrate Simon Trappel's history-making 300th game, Pirates righted the ship from their shock last round loss to Inverell, 28-14.
The win saw them kick five points clear of the Red Devils with two games remaining in the regular season.
Two tough games mind you, with Narrabri out at Narrabri next week and Walcha at home to finish.
Consequently post-match, as happy as they were to get the result there was a sense of the job's far from done.
It wasn't their prettiest performance, but was the type that wins you finals, and in some key areas a big improvement on the Highlanders game.
"It was a tight tussle the whole way through, not a centimetre given really," skipper Conrad Starr said.
"But we just kept working away and we were lucky enough to build pressure at important times and got a few tries which was really pleasing.
"We've worked really hard on that and it paid off today."
He crossed for a double including the opener in the 19th minute.
From there Pirates seemed to be just a step ahead of the Red Devils, and that bit better in every facet.
In saying that they couldn't really put them away, and it was 21-14 from midway through the second half until five minutes to go when replacement front rower Joiji Cakacaka burrowed his way over.
The Red Devils had a couple of moments before then to possibly level, but Pirates too had some opportunities and it always felt like they were in control.
The lowest score the Red Devils have been kept to this season, Starr highlighted their defence as a crucial factor in the result. It was tested at times.
"We made a concerted effort to really work hard on our defence.
"We were pretty good most of the time only letting in 14 points so were pretty pleased with that," he said.
"We've still got a long way to go but that was good to see."
Outplayed and beaten 46-27 in their corresponding clash in the first round, he thought their intensity for one was a lot better throughout the whole game.
"We started well last time and then really dropped off and that let Gunnedah back into the game and then they got really good momentum from that and it was hard to pull them back," he said.
"We knew they'd keep coming at us all game but we knew we had to really get ourselves up again to make sure we put a stop to their momentum early so that we could take control of the game again."
Red Devils coach Dan Martin couldn't hide his disappointment with their performance.
There were moments where they looked like the side that won back-to-back minor premierships but they were few and far between.
"We were beaten by a far superior team," he acknowledged.
Adding that they have "got a lot of work do to", a big part of his frustration is their lack of commitment to training. Saturday was a reflection of that.
Elsewhere Narrabri kept their finals hopes alive with a 31-10 win over Inverell and captain Tom Fuller scored three tries as Quirindi beat Scone 53-15 to keep hold of fourth spot.
