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Pirates' eyes are now firmly focused on the Brumbies and their Central North season opener on April 15 after finalising their preparations against the Dubbo Kangaroos at Kootingal on Saturday.
Persistent rain made for tough conditions but they still produced some great rugby and there was plenty to like for coaches Evan Kellow and Todd Pascoe.
"We talked about it before the game, we're going to have to come up against that through the season. So we just worked hard on some basic things like ball control, defensive line, all that sort of stuff, and honestly looking back all those things were really good today," Kellow said.
"We still made some errors but I mean it's preseason footy. But overall it was a pretty good hit-out, I was pretty impressed by it all."
It wrapped up what has been "a really intense" pre-season.
"Everyone's turned up. We're fitter than I think than we've been in a long time," he said.
![Livinai Tuicakau impressed in Pirates' trials against Maitland and then Dubbo on Saturday. Livinai Tuicakau impressed in Pirates' trials against Maitland and then Dubbo on Saturday.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ingYyB85ps4jmG9t8mfsHP/21cfa82b-129f-4a4f-b945-0d6e7f4ecbf9.JPG/r0_122_2035_1393_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
"We've had three trials which we've never done before a season's started so I think we're in a pretty good position."
There are a few things that still need some fine-tuning like the lineout, which "needs a lot of work", but the "foundations are all pretty much there".
"Our phase play and just some of those one percenters that we want to be better at just need some work but I think defence, attack, structure, scrum, all those big pillars are pretty good at the moment," he said.
One of the things that has really impressed him over the three games is the skill level of some of the young forwards and the ability of the forwards in general to move the ball. It was on show on Saturday and will be crucial to the "entertaining rugby" they want to play.
"I think if it all comes together, we should be able to put some pretty good games on hopefully, and hopefully pick up a few wins off the back of it," Kellow said.
The biggest quandary for him and Pascoe now is settling on a side to face the Brumbies.
That isn't going to be an easy task with a number of players putting their hands up over the pre-season.
"The team we had last year possibly may not be the team we have this year," he said.
![Cooper Hall showed what an exciting young talent he is with this run in the second half. Cooper Hall showed what an exciting young talent he is with this run in the second half.](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ingYyB85ps4jmG9t8mfsHP/ea269427-eb62-48b1-b5e9-1484e3a8140e.JPG/r0_21_3085_1755_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
One of those to impress has been Livinai Tuicakau. He has come across from North Tamworth and has shown in the couple of games he has played he is going to be very handy acquisition.
"Last week and this week his defence has been unbelievable and he's just got really good skill and he just reads a game well," Kellow said.
Playing in the centres for the Bears, he started at outside centre on Saturday before shifting to fullback and later moving into five-eighth.
"Just knowing where we need his defence ability and probably his vision I think outside will be his spot at the moment," he continued.
"But today was a little bit about probably stretching a few guys just to know that we have some plan b's. It was probably highlighted at the end of last year that we didn't have really good plan b's around people going down."
"We want to try and make sure we at least know who can play there if we get on a stretch (of injuries)."
They will host the Brumbies.