Central North rugby: Pirates co-coach Michael Squires bemoans side's performance

The reigning four-time premiers' first loss of the season, after big wins over Walcha and Scone, was the result of a "pretty poor" second half, Squires said.

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"We just told the guys that that was one to put in the memory bank and not to forget about," he said.

"The main thing is that we recognise the parts that have been strong over the first two rounds and we work on the parts that weren't so strong yesterday [Saturday]."

Pirates went into the match without inspirational skipper Conrad Starr. The No 8's injured hamstring is expected to keep him sidelined for Saturday's home clash against Moree.

Jake Douglas also missed the clash, but it was not injury-related.

Squires said: "We started the game quite well ... But the longer the game went on the further we fell away from what we've been doing right the first couple of weeks.

"And Narrabri were just pretty patient ... they held possession well, they kicked well and they kept making us come out of our own half, especially in that second half."

Pirates made too many mistakes, he added.

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