Newcastle Rugby League: Maitland into the grand final, Cessnock marches on
Maitland forward Pat Mata’utia pulled off one of the hits of the season as the Pickers booked their spot in the Newcastle Rugby League grand final. WATCH the bone-crunching tackle here.
The Newcastle News
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It was enough to bring a tear to the eye of the most hardened rugby league fan.
The Macquarie Scorpions had just got themselves back into the game during their Newcastle Rugby League grand final qualifier against the Maitland Pickers, with centre Royce Geoffrey scoring a try against the run of play to pull the scores back to 18-8 with half an hour remaining.
The Scorpions had their tails up, with the try looming as a potential momentum shifter.
Then, in a throwback to Paul “the Chief” Harragon v Mark “Spud” Carroll in the 1990s, Macquarie cult favourite Bobby Treacy wound up from the back fence of the Maitland Sportsground to take the kick-off and charged straight into the oncoming Maitland defence.
WHACK. Pickers forward Pat Mata’utia hit Treacy with a cracking left shoulder to send the Scorpions’ man – as well as the ball – flying, much the delight of the Maitland players, fans and coaching staff.
The hit proved to be a pivotal moment in the game, with Maitland winger Will Niewenhuise scoring directly from the ensuing scrum to make the scores 22-8 and ending any chance of a Macquarie revival.
“It was a little bit of a turning point. Macquarie scored a try against the run of play – we came up with a bit of a poor play where we opted to kick, it ricocheted and they ran 60 metres to score,” Pickers coach Matt Lantry said.
“We always want to try and respond with our defence. Bobby Treacy and Pat Mata’utia had a pretty good running battle there for a period of time and Pat came up with a good shot, Bobby spilt the ball and we were good enough to capitalise.”
It was all one-way traffic from then on, with the Pickers putting on another three converted tries to run away 42-14 winners.
Mata’utia’s hit threatened to overshadow the performance of Pickers’ halfback Brock Lamb, who scored one try, set up three others and kicked nine from nine with the boot in a man-of-the-match performance.
“He was a pretty clear target of Macquarie’s, he racked up some defensive numbers,” said Lantry.
“But I thought he handled the traffic coming his way enormously well. And with the ball he played it nice and direct, came up with the right option consistently and contributed to a number of line breaks, either through his pass selection or his decision to run the ball, so it’s nice to see him respond the way he did.”
It was a tough day at the office for the Scorpions, who lost halfback Bayden Searle halfway through the first half after he fell awkwardly in a tackle and was helped from the field with an ankle injury.
The win sees Maitland, the minor premiers, become the first team to book their ticket into the grand final, to be played at McDonald Jones Stadium on September 11. Meanwhile the Scorpions will play off in the preliminary final this weekend.
Cessnock Goannas 22 d Central Newcastle Butcher Boys 16 at Townson Oval
It was a tale of two halves in the minor semi-final between the Central Newcastle Butcher Boys and the Cessnock Goannas at Townson Oval, with the Goannas coming from the behind to secure a 22-16 win and book a place in the preliminary final against the Scorpions.
Cessnock backrower Wyatt Shaw was man of the match in a strong second half effort for the Goannas.
Central raced to a 12-0 lead within the opening half an hour thanks to a 90-metre intercept try to centre Kiah Cooper and a barnstorming run from prop Cameron King, and took a 16-6 lead into the break.
It was a different story in the second half though, with Cessnock scoring 16 unanswered points to secure the six-point win.
“It definitely wasn’t pretty, I think we started pretty flat,” Cessnock captain-coach Harry Siejka said.
“But we came in at halftime and there was no real stress, everyone was pretty calm.
“I thought Cluney (Sam Clune) really controlled the game and I think Jayden Young really got us going forward with Sione (Ngahe) off the bench.
“I think once we got that depth and started coming onto the football a bit better, we were pretty good. I thought our defence, especially in that second half, was really good as well.”
The loss marks a disappointing end to the season for the Butcher Boys, who went out of the finals in straight sets after losses to Macquarie and Cessnock.
Central finished the regular season in second place and took a 10-match unbeaten run into the finals as the club sought to break its 73-year premiership drought.
Preliminary final
SATURDAY: Macquarie Scorpions v Cessnock Goannas at Lyall Peacock Oval, Toronto, at 2pm
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