PIRATES charger Ben Cook admitted “you don’t get much better” than having the club’s previous Aussie stars in his corner – as he celebrated a double during his first season in Britain.

Moving from a reserve spot into the main body of the team throughout 2021, Cook became a revelation for Poole, having taken advice from the likes of Chris Holder, Jack Holder and Brady Kurtz.

He scored key points as the Dorset club went on to record the SGB Championship league title and Knockout Cup during his inaugural campaign in the skull and crossbones.

Both of the Holder brothers, as well as Kurtz have regularly been seen in the pits aiding Cook and his brother Zach, who guested at Wimborne Road for the latter part of the campaign in place of the injured Stefan Nielsen.

Asked what it meant having his fellow Aussies alongside him to celebrate title glory, Cowra-born Cook told the Daily Echo: “Jack, Chris, Brady, they are always in our corner helping us out. Telling us what we have done wrong and what we have done right.

“You don’t get much better than that. Those boys have done it and to have them in your corner, it is good. You can’t ask for much more than that.

“We have had a big year. It’s been great with the boys and I couldn’t ask for a better team really.”

Cook and younger brother Zach have been part of the contingent who had stayed with team manager Neil Middleditch in Sturminster Marshall.

The siblings got the chance to rubber-stamp Poole’s title victory with a 5-1 together in heat 14 against Glasgow Tigers at Wimborne Road earlier this month.

Reflecting on the crowning moment, Cook added: “We celebrated one too early – we thought we had done it (in heat 13).

“But I was out in the next one and we had, not pressure, but it was going to be the hero moment. Me and my brother, we did it, which was pretty cool.

“To seal it up like that, it’s like a fairytale really.

“He (Zach) was obviously with Plymouth at the start of the year and they didn’t have too good of a season.

“When Stefan got injured, a door opened up for him and he jumped in there. To be honest, he did pretty well and to go off like that and win it – what a feeling.”