The Bulls outclassed last year’s runners-up, the size  of the margin only enhancing their reputation as the team to beat.

Granted, Pirates were down a few troops, as Bulls co-coach Peter Copeman was quick to point out, but even he didn’t see that sort of scoreline coming.

“Last time we put more than 40 on them was about 2005,” he said.

“Ever since then we’ve copped a lot of pain.”

Most recently in last year’s final.

Saturday’s win follows a similar hammering of fellow semi-finalists Gunnedah three weeks ago and, similar to then, there wasn’t a lot they did wrong.

“We turned over a bit of ball early but after that the forwards played well,” Copeman said.

Joe deDassel and Ben Colley, particularly, provided good go-forward and then, when they went wide, “Jordan Cosh killed them”.

That was where they really cut Pirates apart, with Cosh scoring a hat-trick and winger Sam Bacigalupo running in a double.

Not a lot went right for Pirates. They were twice reduced to 14 for 10 minutes.

Particularly when Conrad Starr was off, they took advantage, Copeman said.

“We played pretty well when they were one down,” he said.

The scrum and line-out were good again and Ben Carrigan really pulled the strings well at five-eighth.

His efforts saw him pick up the three points.

Cosh got the two and Matt Wannan the one.

Pirates coach Andrew Verrell also remarked on the way Carrigan steered the Bulls around the park, particularly with his boot.

It was one of many nails in their coffin.

“We were terrible,” Verrell said.

He’d said before the game if they made the same amount of errors they have been, that the Bulls would crucify them.

And they did.

“We just had no ball. Then when we did get it we’d turn it over,” he said.

“Our error rate was terrible.”

It’s their worst loss in all his time associated with the club.

He thought the set pieces were pretty good but, beyond that, there weren’t a lot of positives.

“Our defence was woeful,” he said. “Just basic stuff.”

Part of that was changes in combinations again, but they just didn’t seem to learn from their mistakes. 

“I reckon they would have scored three tries exactly the same way,” he said. 

“And no-one got a hand on them.”

Compounding their problems they picked up more injuries.

The forwards dominated the points, with second-rower Jack Shelton earning the three and players’ player, locking partner Tony O’Connor the two and prop David Irvine the one. - By Samantha Newsam