A new ground, new sponsor, new coach, new look team, but the spirit of old will be key for the Maitland Pickers as they embark on a new season, according to Pickers legend Brian Burke.
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Captain-coach Luke Dorn couldn’t agree more and says the Pickers of 2018 are ready to build on the golden legacy of those who went before them.
Burke knows about success, he won three premierships with Maitland playing in the 1965, 1969 and 1971 title teams. He missed the 1973 premiership because of injury.
Along with Terry Pannowitz and Merv Wright he is a legend of the second golden era of the Pickers at the Sportsground.
The first was from 1954-60 when Maitland played in seven consecutive grand finals and won a hat-trick of titles from 1956-58 in a side led by Fred Brown and included Pickers great Don “Bandy” Adams the grandfather of current Maitland players Adam and Luke Clydsdale.
Robert Finch led the next Maitland premiership in 1983, but the side didn’t taste success again until the 2010-11 back-to-back premierships featuring another Pickers favourite PJ Ellis and current players Jacob Sinclair, Brenton Horwood and Rob Mason.
Burke said he saw his first game at the Maitland Sportsground in 1956 and made his first grade debut just nine years later in 1965, a premiership year which was celebrated with Pannowitz representing Australia.
“There were huge crowds. You would get 10,000 people or more for games against Cessnock, Wests and Kurri,” Burke recalled.
“We had a great team, but our biggest strength was mateship. There was a bit of a saying at the time that Maitland was spelled Mateland for that team.
“Luke has got a local talent in this team like we did and we need to get behind them and enjoy the success when it comes.”
The Pickers of old were working class heroes, and Dorn wants to reprise that sense of community and pride in the jersey.
“I can remember coming here as a kid and wanting to play for the Pickers,” he said.
“We wouldn’t be where we are today, with such a great facility without the generations who went before us.
“They have created a huge legacy for this club and we want to build on that with success of our own.”
Dorn’s football journey took him to the NRL and then Super League before he had a chance to play for the Pickers.
He returned to Maitland last year and wants to be part of a Pickers premiership and an on-going era of success.
“Our goal this year is not to make finals, it is to win a premiership,” he said.
