Grant Anderson is confident he and his Cornish Pirates team-mates can be in National One's final shake-up come the end of the season.

Having swapped Newcastle for Penzance in the summer, the Aussie prop has helped steady the Pirates ship in the past fortnight after their pre-Christmas defeat to near neighbours Plymouth Albion.

Hard-fought victories over Pertemps Bees and Coventry have helped the Pirates remain in touch with the division's front-runners, but Anderson is keen for his club to kick-on yet further in the coming months.

"It's very tight at the top of the division, I think four or five points are seperating five sides," said Anderson. "Every week is a battle in this division, so we are very happy to have bounced back from the Plymouth game with these wins.

"We dogged it out for that first 40 minutes and then we turned it around in the second 40, which is what we wanted to do. It was never going to be pretty in those conditions, but this was a real big win for us." "We knew Coventry would be tough, they always are, but we dogged it out in really difficult conditions and got the four points, which is the most important thing." In attrocious conditions at Camborne last Sunday, the Pirates had to hit back from a 10-0 half-time deficit to record a slender 16-15 success. "It was really difficult out there," admitted Anderson, who has represented Australia at Schoolboy, Under-19 and 21 level. "It was tough going on your body, your boots were heavy, and the wind and rain was just awful, especially first half.

Grant Anderson

Certainly the Brisbane-born forward is predicting big things for the Pirates in 2007. He added: "The Pirates are putting things in place so that can make that next step. There are players here now who could play Premiership rugby, but we need to keep building and keep a core squad.

"For me, I'm just loving it down here. It's a lot like home and the these are the best bunch of players I've ever been involved with. Also the Cornish people are fantastic. I didn't think coming to a small town like Penzance that we would have such great support. It really lifts you and makes you want to do well for them."