The Maitland Pickers defied the elements and a gutsy Cessnock Goannas to maintain its undefeated campaign in Tooheys Newcastle Rugby League (Real NRL) at the weekend.

In terrible conditions, the hosts fought back from a half-time deficit to prevail 39-16 at Maitland’s No 1 Sportsground on Saturday.

For their part, the Goannas looked strong heading into the sheds ahead 16-10.

However, the Pickers clicked into gear to pile on 29 unanswered points in the final 40.

“It was certainly a game of two halves,” Maitland coach Matt Lantry said.

“We were really poor with our errors, which has been a bugbear of mine for the first five weeks of the competition.

“We’ve put ourselves under all sorts of pressure, particularly the Wyong [Roos] match last week in the second half.

“Thankfully, we defended well – and we are defending well at the moment.

“Cessnock caught us out a couple of times (today) on the back of our mistakes, which gave them good field position.

“But, in saying that, I thought for periods in that first half we were really dominant.

“Defensively, we were aggressive, our line speed was great, and our defensive energy as a whole was good.

“We just put pressure on ourselves with a few errors.

“If we tidied that up, it would be a different story – we still haven’t put 80 minutes together yet.

“It’s only early in the year, however, at some point, you have to draw a line in the sand with this team and really challenge them on that and make sure we’re accountable for those things.”

Lantry admitted the Pickers had now become the “hunted”, instead of the “hunter”, in the Real NRL.

“There’s no easy games for us anymore,” he told the Newcastle Weekly.

“It doesn’t matter where any side sits on the ladder, we’ve put a target on our back with what we’ve done as a club and how successful we’ve been the past three years.

“We’ve got to welcome that and embrace it.

“Certainly, every week is a challenge for us – and, today, was no different.”

Although the Goannas were blown off the park in the second half, courtesy of five tries including a double to second-rower Pat Mata’utia, Lantry was full of praise for his rivals.

“Cessnock is a great team,” he said.

“Halfback Kendyll Fahey’s always a constant threat back through the middle third; five-eighth Sam Clune goes really well with a footy in his hands; and youngster Hayden Regan was impressive from dummy half.

“They’ve got a big forward pack, too.

“But, the way we controlled everything after the break, with our high completion rate, and good execution of our kicking game, I thought it was key to turning things around and coming out on top.”

Despite the greasy pill, and handling mistakes, the Pickers surged to a 10-0 lead in as many minutes via winger Will Nieuwenhuise and No 6 Chad O’Donnell.

However, the Goannas retaliated almost immediately with Clune barging over near the uprights. Fahey converted for a 10-6 scoreline.

Regan then displayed some neat footwork to touch down in the 18th minute. Fahey landed the extras for a 12-10 advantage.

Just on half-time, Cessnock kept the ball alive and centre Tyrone Nean crossed out wide to extend the margin to 16-10.

When the teams returned to the field, it was all one-way traffic.

Winger Perry Le Brocque (47th), Mata’utia (51st, 65th), centre Matt Soper-Lawler (61st) and another try to O’Donnell (75th) saw Maitland run away with the fixture.

Brock Lamb booted six goals and added a field goal in the dying stages to ice the victory.

In the other Saturday matches, the Roos overpowered the Western Suburbs Rosellas 22-2 and the Macquarie Scorpions won the battle of the lakes, pipping Lakes United Seagulls 14-4.

On Sunday, the South Newcastle Lions upstaged the Kurri Kurri Bulldogs 19-6 at Townson Oval and the Central Newcastle Butcher Boys held off The Entrance Tigers 16-12.

Tooheys Newcastle Rugby League (Real NRL)

Denton Engineering Cup

Round six results:

• Central Newcastle Butcher Boys d The Entrance Tigers 16-12
• South Newcastle Lions d Kurri Kurri Bulldogs 19-6
• Maitland Pickers d Cessnock Goannas 39-16
• Wyong Roos d Western Suburbs Rosellas 22-2
• Macquarie Scorpions d Lakes United Seagulls 14-4

Round seven draw:

Saturday 7 May –

• 3pm: Wyong Roos v Cessnock Goannas (Morry Breen Oval)
• 3pm: Western Suburbs Rosellas v The Entrance Tigers (Harker Oval)
• 3pm: Lakes United Seagulls v South Newcastle Lions (Cahill Oval)
• 3pm: Kurri Kurri Bulldogs v Maitland Pickers (Kurri Kurri Sports Ground)

Sunday 8 May –

• 3pm: Central Newcastle Butcher Boys v Macquarie Scorpions (St John Oval)

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