Fullback Luka Syplywczak and flanker Jack Johnston arrived in Australia from Kent in September last year before they spent five months in Melbourne.

“We weren’t sure what we wanted to do work wise so thought why not do a bit of travelling,” Syplywczak said.

They then moved to Port Macquarie in February this year before Pirates picked them up.

“We sent out emails to clubs and originally there was some interest from Tamworth Pirates,” Syplywczak said.

“But they’d already filled their quota for overseas players and they put us in contact with Chris here and he sounded like a really good guy on the phone.

“They mentioned they were already stuck into pre-season training so it sounded like it was made for us.”

The Englishmen admitted they weren’t aware Port Macquarie had two teams until they arrived on the first day and were shown around town by president Peter Gerathy.

“They’ve certainly got the prettier ground, but hopefully we’ve got the better team.”

Johnston said the club had ensured the transition to the Mid-North Coast of New South Wales was as smooth as possible.

“The club has really taken care of us and gave us a place to stay for the first couple of weeks,” he said.

“We found accomodation pretty easily, settled in and got to know the town well. We like Lighthouse Beach.”

The number six or seven has already marked round two of the season into his calendar – it’s the first local derby of the season.

“Really looking forward to the second game of the season – it should be a good one.”

Saturday’s trial starts at 3pm