The Maitland Pickers celebrated their return to the Maitland Sportsground with an emphatic 36-0 win against the Cessnock Goannas in front of a huge home crowd.
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The Kurri Kurri Bulldogs also started in winning style beating South Newcastle 16-10 at the Kurri Kurri Sportsground
The Pickers scored within three-minutes after the first kick-off of the game was knocked on by Cessnock.
The opening try was a gem with a clever run and quick pass by Hayden Grainger setting up a hole for Tylar Carter to run into and cross the line.
New halfback Ryan Walsh, who had an impressive debut for the Pickers, converted the try and landed six goals as Maitland ran in six tries, four in the first half.
The Pickers forwards stood their ground in defence against the much-vaunted Cessnock pack and continually made inroads in attack to set a great platform for play makers Grainger, Walsh, Adam Clydsdale, who started at hooker, and Jarrod Smith who was injected into play with devastating effect off the bench.
Front-rower Rob Mason went down with a knee injury in the first half after making a strong start to the game.
The back five were solid in defence and provided real impetus coming out off their line.
Geordie Connelly caused havoc for the big Goannas with darting runs and whenever he busted the line there was support from his fellow backs.
Clydsdale was best on the ground and his bone-jarring defence set the tone. He continually made life hard for the Goannas tiring forwards.
Goannas recruit Paul Carter and Walsh were both sin-binned for 10 minutes late in the second half after an altercation.
Bulldogs finish strong
Kurri Kurri staged a memorable come-from-behind win against South Newcastle, scoring 12 unanswered points in the second half to win 16-10.
The Bulldogs trailed 4-10 at half-time but with their parochial home crowd and plenty of run, after a tough pre-season, they prevailed in a tough encounter.
The Bulldogs new halves Sam Wooden and Jade Porter combined to score Cessnock’s opening try after the Lions opened the scoring to lead 6-0.
Wooden placed a kick into the end-goal and Porter dived on it to score.
Lachie Macbeth scored the Bulldogs second try to take the score to 8-10 and a penalty goal evened the scores.
Tom McKenzie had a dream debut scoring the winning try for the Bulldogs. Former Cessnock Goanna Zeb Dunstan was best on ground in a sterling performance at centre, giving his forwards support with strong runs and doing a power of work in defence.
