The Pirates led 13-10 at half-time after fumbling their way through the first stanza, but Young was pleased with the way his side responded to the challenge at the break.

Once they eliminated their errors and ill-discipline, Pirates settled into their groove and the Thunder couldn’t go with them.

“If we had have delivered in the second half what we did in the first half we would have got rolled,” Young said.

"We were pretty poor, but we knew they would be at their best in the first half.

“It was good we delivered on what we spoke about.”

Fullback Korie Paio was solid in his first game back from a calf injury and Young was also pleased with the efforts of new signing Pete Gowler.

“Korie just gives us that x-factor,” he said.

“He scored one or two tries and I was happy with how he went in his first game back because you never know with a calf injury.”

The forward pack laid the foundation for the second-half pointscoring blitz, although Young said no-one “really stood out.”

“We’re still working on our combinations; we’ve never had the same side two weeks in a row,” he said.

“We should have just about everyone on deck from next week which is pleasing.”

Former Port Macquarie Shark Dave Geary had his first game for the Pirates at five-eighth and barely missed a beat.

“He was good for us in his debut,” Young said.