The Maitland Pickers remain atop the NEWRL Denton Engineering Cup after a sensational showdown with the Western Suburbs Rosellas at the weekend.

Matt Lantry’s men came from 14-4 down to outlast their fast-finishing rivals 28-26 in somewhat controversial circumstances at Harker Oval on Sunday 10 May.

Key personnel inside the Wests’ camp highlighted issues within the match – in the 46th minute (forward pass from Harry Van Dartel) and the 63rd minute (ruck interference from play the ball) – that they claim turned the tide of the encounter and cost the hosts a critical 12 points, which potentially would have decided the outcome.

“There is no accountability… and it seems to be getting worse, not better,” said a Rosellas insider, who spoke on the basis of anonymity as to not be sanctioned by the governing body.

“Are these referees even training? They clearly can’t keep up. I’d love to know their Bronco time.”

There’s no doubt the five tries to four contest was a close affair.

Aiden Storrie opened the scoring for Wests when he cut up the Maitland defence on a blinding run to give his side first points.

Pickers’ fullback Dan Langbridge responded moments later with a show and go to reduce the margin to 6-4.

Western Suburbs, in turn, kicked a penalty goal and, soon after, Jayden Harris crossed close to the line to extend the lead to 14-4.

Ethan Parry crossed for Maitland just prior to half-time to give his team a sniff at 14-10 going into the main break.

Lantry then challenged his senior players, rather sternly, to take control of the situation.

He reminded them that missing Matt Soper-Lawler, Lincoln Smith and captain Sam Anderson were not an excuse either.

Parry touched down after the interval, thanks to some nice lead-up work from Langbridge and Van Dartel for the Pickers to go up 16-14.

The Maitland backline got into operation again when Van Dartel and Parry once again combined down the right edge with a 50-metre break.

The former gave the final pass to Joey Barber, which brought howls from the Wests’ fans that the pass was two metres forward in a key moment of controversy. Pickers 20 Wests 14.

Liam Wilkinson put Jayden Harris over in the 51st minute on a little crash play which, by the Pickers’ defensive standards, could be labelled a soft try, and clawed back the lead to 20-16.

Wilkinson, capping a brilliant individual game, dived over from a metre out using the advantage of the upright in his favour to give the Rosellas a 26-20 buffer.

Enter the general Brock Lamb.

The Pickers half combined with Isaiah Olsen to play with width and Lamb, with a perfectly-weighted and perfectly-timed pass, hit Issac Blackhall short coming back against the grain for a 26-24 scoreline.

Then it was Olsen’s turn to put his mark on the game when he ran the football from his own 40m line to bust through the defence, draw in the fullback and put Langbridge away to win the fixture 28-26.

“I thought we were good in patches but we certainly have some stuff to work on,” Lantry said post-game.

“They are a good side and were well-prepared and it’s never easy coming here.

“But, we now go back with the week off into a two-week block to get ready for Souths at home.

“We’re hoping to have a few guys return for that one as well.”

IN OTHER MATCHES

LAKES UNITED d KURRI KURRI 16-10

Lakes celebrated Nick Glohe’s 200th match with a win against a determined Kurri Kurri outfit at Cahill Oval.

The Seagulls controlled the majority of field position and territory in the first half but struggled to convert their chances in what was a grinding, gruelling contest.

Charlie Hennessy grabbed a double, but Sione Mata’utia was the difference-maker with a try and many quality carries and was well-assisted by Sione Tuitupoukutu, who was also very strong on both sides of the ball.

Remarkably, Lakes sit in fifth position after round five.

CENTRAL NEWCASTLE d CESSNOCK 12-8

The Butcher Boys continued their run of wins under the lights at St John Oval with a grinding 12-8 win over Cessnock.

While it was a tight affair, Central just seemed to maintain their stranglehold on the match despite the Goannas’ bigger forward pack.

Unbelievably, the Butcher Boys occupy second spot after five weeks, which is an incredible effort particularly in the absence of star recruit Chad O’Donnell.

MACQUARIE d THE ENTRANCE 24-23

Talk about thrillers, this one had everything going for it.

The Tigers basically had it wrapped up while Macquarie had two in the sin bin.

This would normally trigger a 40-point deficit to the Scorpions.

However, on this day, they dug in and recorded one of their greater performances in recent history by overthrowing the competition heavyweights.

And, while much of the credit must go to the players, one must pay tribute to Jye Bailey, who has had the internal gumption to act on some very difficult calls including some significant roster changes to grab victory at the death.

The last four-pointer will quite possibly be the Newcastle Rugby League try of the year.

A great day for long-suffering Scorps fans.

SOUTH NEWCASTLE d NORTHERN HAWKS 40-12

The South Newcastle Lions took on the high-flying Hawks in a Sunday showdown at Townson Oval in a match that saw two of the competition front-runners face off in a tight contest.

But, after 80 minutes, it certainly wasn’t that.

The Hawks were the better side for the opening period, even managing to score the first try.

However, the Lions dominated the next 70 minutes.

Souths’ attack was in full gear — angled running, short balls into holes, flash balls on the goal line.

The variety of barrages for the Hawks to defend would have been totally overwhelming.

The Lions finish the round in second, while the Hawks learnt a valuable lesson that they must up the ante if their wish to play finals football is to come true.

For more sports stories:

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• Knights continue to bolster NRLW squad ahead of 2026 season
• Jets one win from ALM decider after semi-final draw

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