An injury depleted Maitland Pickers lost to Western Suburbs on Saturday handing top spot on the Newcastle Rugby League ladder to Kurri Kurri.
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Kurri Kurri went a game clear on top after a 26-24 win against reigning premiers the Macquarie Scorpions.
The Pickers went into the match without captain-coach Luke Dorn, five-eighth Hayden Grainger and utility forward Jarrod Smith and lost centre Geordie Connelly to injury in the first half at Harker Oval on Saturday.
The Rosellas, who had been boosted by the inclusion of halfback Ryan Stigg, stole an early jump on Maitland and led by 24-4 before the Pickers struck back at half-time trail 16-24.
In a tight second-half, Maitland crossed the line but the try was disallowed and Wests finished the game off through Ryan Walker’s third try of the day to extend their lead to 30-6.
Pickers president Frank Lawler said the team was disappointed with their performance with errors in the first half contributing to Wests strong start.
“We always knew it was going to be a tough match, with Wests copping a fair bit of criticism for their start to the year,” he said.
“With Ryan Stigg and a couple of others coming into the line-up they probably fielded their best team of the year and full credit to them for the win when they were under the pump.
“They had players coming in and we were without Dorny, Hayden and Jarrod so that was a big hole to feel.
“We lost Geordie Connelly as well to injury in the first half, but even with those outs we were pretty disappointed with the way we performed.”
Lawler said they were hopeful of having the three missing players available for selection next week and forward Rob Mason should also come under consideration after missing the past four rounds and injuring his knee in round one.
The Pickers are at home to Central Newcastle on Saturday. Central will be smarting after losing to Lakes.
