Tough, uncompromising defence and enterprising attack on the back of a forward pack providing plenty of momentum.
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They have been the hallmark of the Maitland Pickers’ start to the season until Saturday when a previously winless Central Newcastle gave the Pickers a dose of their own medicine to run out 36-12 winners.
A ruthless Central delivered Maitland a lesson that unless you are totally switched on and ready for battle then you are going to cop a hammering this season.
“It isn’t a wake up call, just a valuable lesson that if you don’t prepare the best you can prepare and you are not ready to go in this competition you will be put to the sword,” a disappointed Pickers captain-coach Luke Dorn said after the match.
“It’s a lesson for me as a coach to make sure we are better prepared.
“At the end it finishes and starts with me so I’ve got to be better as coach to make sure we are in a position to win.
“I’ve got to do better in getting us ready for big games like that.”
The Maitland defence didn’t so much leak points, they were battered and worn down by a Central side which dominated possession, repeatedly piggybacked into good field position by penalties.
It was great to hear the vocal and large home crowd baying for the referee’s blood, but the reality was the Pickers gave him no choice through ill discipline
“We weren’t good with our contact, they ran really hard and were full of enthusiasm,” Dorn said.
“Our first up contact was poor so we tried to win it back on the ground and we gave away too many penalties.
“We put ourselves under way too much pressure and they were just far superior.”
The Pickers continued to push but lacked cohesion in attack as well as being off in defence.
“Every team in the comp will be able to exploit you if you not on. Coming up against anyone it would have been a tough challenge for us but Central are loaded with talent and made us pay,” Dorn said.
“We weren’t able to get ourselves into the game and do things we have been doing good in the last couple of weeks.
“They were very good defensively. We didn’t help ourselves we didn’t really stick to what we wanted to do.
“We were a bit all over the place not as composed in our structure as we have been.
“It was disappointing but a valuable lesson for us moving forward next week.”
The Pickers tries were scored by Scott Williams and Tim Watson. Ryan Walsh converted both goals.