![Moree fullback Mitch Adams cling onto Pirates centre Blair Maloney. Picture by Gareth Gardner Moree fullback Mitch Adams cling onto Pirates centre Blair Maloney. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ingYyB85ps4jmG9t8mfsHP/551dd68c-6cfc-4d0c-bf13-7d24f4a4a0c9.jpg/r0_0_6557_4138_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Sometimes it's not about by how much you are winning; it's that you're winning.
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By their own admission, so far in 2024 Moree haven't been at their best.
But they are finding a way to win.
The reigning premiers will finish the first round the only unbeaten side after edging out Pirates 27-19 at a windy and cold Ken Chillingworth Oval on Saturday.
Returning to the scene of their drought-breaking grand final triumph, the Bulls overcame discipline issues, which twice in the first half saw them reduced to 14 players for 10 minutes, and a determined home side to head into a now four-week break six-from-six, but with "still plenty to work on" as captain Duncan Woods acknowledged post-match.
"We haven't dropped a game yet but still haven't put together a fully polished performance," the powerhouse No.8 said.
Their third win by eight points or less, after getting over Inverell by four points and sneaking home by three against Quirindi, one of the most pleasing things is that all three have been on the road.
Woods said knowing that they "can go away to places, play poorly .. and still come away with the result" is huge for their confidence.
Still, he'd rather it not go down to the wire so much.
"We shouldn't be making it that hard for ourselves," he said.
"Two yellow cards in the first half... It's hard to win games with a man down for 10 minutes let alone for 20."
They still managed to go into half-time ahead after driving their way over after the siren to lead 10-7.
It made for a frustrating end to the half for the home side after gifting the Bulls that last-minute opportunity.
As Moree made a late charge, they seemed to have thwarted the imminent danger when centre Jack Edwards ripped the ball from James Gall.
![Pirates centre Jack Edwards braces for impact. Picture by Gareth Gardner Pirates centre Jack Edwards braces for impact. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ingYyB85ps4jmG9t8mfsHP/fa155f12-6ebd-4955-820a-2cd69f214dd3.jpg/r0_0_2013_1266_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
But half-back Ratu Ralulu's attempted clearing kick got caught in the wind and went barely a couple of metres before going out, giving the Bulls a lineout about 15m out.
After playing more of a territory game with the wind behind them in the first half, the Bulls signalled their intent to play more ball in hand from the opening minutes of the second.
Showing a willingness to really throw the ball around, they eventually got some pay for their endeavour with Angus Smith crashing over to extend their lead to 17-7 16 minutes in.
Sam Collett answered back for Pirates in brilliant fashion, the "runaway cowboy", as ground announcer for the day Brendan Rixon referred to him, racing away 50m from a well-worked set play, pushing off two Bulls' defenders and taking a third over the line with him.
Two quick tries to Moree fullback Mitch Adams, who was one of their best, saw them push back out to what felt a pretty comfortable 27-12 lead with just under 10 minutes to play.
![Five-eighth Ben Williams directed the visitors well. Picture by Gareth Gardner Five-eighth Ben Williams directed the visitors well. Picture by Gareth Gardner](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/ingYyB85ps4jmG9t8mfsHP/5d80d1ac-2ae1-45a9-9590-7151de064a6f.jpg/r0_0_4537_2803_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
However, Luke Johnstone's second a few minutes later got Pirates back within striking distance.
But, in the end the Bulls were just able to rise to the moment when they needed to; like the late try in the first half or replacement back-rower Jack Slack forcing a penalty with Pirates only metres away from potentially making it a one-point game with two-and-a-half to go.
Woods said that probably comes from having a group that has "finally played some finals games".
"We had a lot of young players last year and going into the finals it was everyone's sort of first crack at that," he said.
"Now that we've been there and done it, we seem to be nutting out a few of these tough wins."