Longtime Tamworth builder Tom Cutcliffe knows a good foundation when he sees one.
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And that is what he saw when he took over from Stuart Prowse as Pirates president this season: the fruits of that a pending four-pronged grand final assault at Walcha on Saturday.
For what is believed to be only the second time in the venerable club's history, they will have four teams in action on grand final day.
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The last time that happened, the club believes, was in 2012 - when they were represented by first grade, second grade, under-17s and under-16s.
On Saturday, they will vie for premierships in first grade, second grade, women's sevens and under-19s.
Pirates' bid for first-grade glory was enhanced late on Friday when props Bart Leach and Andrew Collins had their one-match suspensions, which would have ruled them out of the grand final, quashed during a judiciary hearing.
Leach and Collins had both received a third yellow card in Pirates' preliminary final win over Narrabri, which automatically invoked a one-match ban.
"It's unbelievable news," Cutcliffe said of the ruling, adding: "It's a great decision for the club."
Cutcliffe said Pirates's season to savour highlighted the club's great depth and pool of "really good players".
He said: "We're very fortunate to have all four grades in the grand final, especially having the girls there this year: they've just come ahead in leaps and bounds; it's quite amazing."
Pirates' under-18 side were beaten by Calrossy last weekend. "We've got five sides at the club, and all five sides made it to the grand final," Cutcliffe said.
As for his ascension to the presidency, he said: "You couldn't have been handed a club in a better position, really. We've picked up a couple of good sponsors since then [when he took on the role].
"The club's in a very good financial position, which is good. So, we've moved forward a little bit more [this year] and hopefully we'll move forward a bit more next year."
