The Maitland Magpies have done the city proud with their fantastic effort to win the major and minor premierships and gain promotion to the Northern NSW National Premier League.
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The fashion in which the club achieved its long-held goal of promotion back to premier league will go down in Maitland sporting folklore.
They won 23 of 24 games in the Northern NSW First Division and in the words of coach Graham Law “they just don’t know how to get beat”.
The summation no doubt applies to all those involved in the club because winning premierships and promotion takes a whole-club effort.
The Magpies have waited 12 years to get back to the top-flight and their promotion was based on astute recruiting and the loyalty of talented local players such as the Broadley brothers, Chris, Justin and Ryan, who have resisted offers to go elsewhere.
Coach Law blended a tremendous team spirit with the support of the administration and support staff.
The support they received along the way from their legion of fans was fantastic and from a sporting view point we are set to be spoilt with a premier league derby from next year between the Magpies and the Weston Bears.
The round-ball code is alive and well in Maitland and the efforts of the Thornton Redbacks to make this year’s finals is also worthy of note.
The final part of the equation will hopefully be completed on the weekend by the Weston Bears when they face Lambton Jaffas in the Northern NSW National Premier League grand final.
The Bears showed true spirit to overcome the disappointment of a last-game 1-1 draw to miss out on the minor premiership, to qualify for the grand final.
Good luck Bears and congratulations to the Magpies and Redbacks on great seasons.