This week they overcame the send-off of Matt Farrance 15 minutes into the second half to record an impressive 29-14 victory over Southern Cross University.

Tries to Tavita Talamaivao, Kaes Besseling, Jake Law and Ash Elliott ensured Pirates bounced back from last week’s narrow loss to Coffs Snappers.

Pirates led 15-0 only to see last year’s premiers roar back into the contest to close to 15-14 at the break.

But Hurlston’s men’s defence held firm in the second half, keeping the Snappers pointless despite the one-man disadvantage.

“We lost to the minor premiers last week by two points and we’ve just beaten the major premiers,” Hurlston said.

“We’ve played the top two teams in the comp last year and done bloody well against both of them so that should give our players a bit of belief.”

Not only did Pirates register the victory minus a man, they scored 14 points of their own in the process.

“When we went down to 14 men I sent the message out that every player had to raise 10 per cent,” Hurlston said.

“It can go either way; you either knuckle down and get on with it or you cave in and we held our line.

“To go up there and win the way we did was really impressive.”

Hurlston was full of praise for his side and their performance.

The Pirates coach now wants his side to be a more consistent team now they had shown what they were capable of.

“They’ve set the standards now, so they’ve got to stick to it,” he said.

“I’m not going to say we put in an 80-minute performance because we didn’t, but we’re getting close.”

Meanwhile, Hastings Valley Vikings continued their successful start to the season with a hard-fought 35-24 victory over Coffs Snappers.

The Vikings didn’t have it all their own way in the first half, as the Snappers didn’t fully capitalise on possession and field position.

Coach Dave Henry was happy his side went to the break trailing 10-7 after they had done a mountain of defensive work.

“Half-time came at a really good time for us and at the worst time for Coffs,” he said.

“We didn’t have the footy for long periods of time and our defence was outstanding.”

Once possession swung around, Vikings put on 28 unanswered points to take control of the game at 35-10.

Snappers then scored the final two tries of the match to put some respectability onto the scoreboard.