After four seasons of dominance, the Maitland Pickers refuse to rest on their laurels.

With the 2026 season fast approaching, the reigning Newcastle Rugby League (NEWRL) powerhouse is already plotting how to turn a remarkable run into a historic fifth title.

Driving that push is head coach Matt Lantry, whose leadership has underpinned the club’s rise to the top since 2020.

“What’s next for us is the question… how do we make it five titles?” he said.

“Our focus is finding ways where we can continually challenge ourselves to improve and then make those small adjustments. 

“We aren’t perfect.

“But, we’ve been doing really well over the past five years.

“The one thing we’ll never get sick of is winning. 

“As our playing group gets a bit older and some retire, we need to have a long-term plan for the future that doesn’t see us facing a rebuild. 

“There’s a lot of juniors coming through who are already first grade standard.

“So, hopefully, it will allow us to maintain this successful foray that Maitland is currently in for a longer period of time.”

Lantry believes the squad’s hunger and discipline put them in a strong position to chase a fifth straight premiership. 

“There’s no reason why we can’t make it five,” he told the Newcastle Weekly.

“We’ve retained every player from our grand final squad, with the strong addition of Wyong centre Isaac Blackhall, who improves our standard of player within our roster. 

“I’m getting excited with how our playing group turns up, coming to our pre-season starting in January.

“We generally get a feel for how motivated they are with how they attack their pre-season.

“We’ve got a really dedicated group that enjoys each other’s company and enjoys going out there to compete week upon week. 

“There definitely will be clubs that are extra motivated to beat us next year. 

“That’s been the same case since 2022. 

“We’ve been the ‘hunted club’ in the sense that everyone wants to come and beat us. 

“They know that if they don’t turn up, they’ll probably get a big score put against them. 

“It won’t be anything new for us.

“It’ll just be teams trying to find ways to elevate their performance.

“One thing we’ve found is that a lot of clubs spend a lot of money on their roster, but you can’t buy a comp. 

“You need to develop a culture that runs deep beyond your 13 or 17 players week-to-week.

“It needs to be entrenched within your club and players really need to believe and follow that direction.

“If you don’t develop that culture, sustained success is quite difficult.

“However, I feel that we are approaching and maintaining that pretty well.”

For more sports stories:

• Success or sustainability: The volunteer crisis and structural fragility (Part 3)
• Success or sustainability: The arms race nobody wants to admit exists (Part 2)
• Success or sustainability: A deep dive into Newcastle rugby league (Part 1)

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