When the two teams met last in round three, Maitland were without star forwards Travis Brooke and Michael Howell and were thumped 44-19 at Passmore Oval by a Merewether team that went on to win their opening eight games.

Brooke and Howell are back in the team and with class backs Chris Logan and Carl Manu and young halves Max Stafford and Pat Batey the Blacks have the top-end talent equal of any team in the competition.

But it is the continued development of the Blacks younger brigade and the injection of enthusiasm from Josh McCormack and brutal brilliance of former Anderson Medal winner Nick Davidson which will give Maitland every chance of reversing the result from their last meeting.

“We are in a position now that if we play well we can secure a top-three finish. That was always our end goal and we are certainly in reach of it now,” co-coach Ryan McCormack said.

“Basically up front is where it is going to be won and lost in the current game.

“Our forward pack is strong and if they can provide some good quality go forward ball then I believe we have probably one of the stronger backlines in the competition so points will come.

“We just need to match them physically up front which is what we didn’t do in our last game.”

The Blacks forwards are combining well as a unit and Brooke and Howell have able lieutenants in James Johnston, John Birrell and Ben Wood.

Dan Runchel is in superb form at hooker and Willie Soe and Frank Uini form a powerful front-row.

Davidson provides the X-factor and McCormack believes he is playing better than when he won the Anderson Medal.

“I look back at the years when Davo won the Anderson Medal and finished second and to be honest I think he is playing better football now than he did back in those years,” he said.

“He is doing his job very well, he is thinking about it and is not trying to do too much.

“What he is doing he is doing really effectively.”

Josh McCormack, who was at first unsure if work would allow him to train and play first grade in his return to the Blacks, has added another dimension to the team. 

“He is in the thick of it when it comes to game plans, he is in the thick of it on the field. He has added energy to the side, something that we lacked last year,” McCormack said of his younger brother.

“He has brought a real winning attitude into the side and built a lot of confidence in those younger players around him and even the forwards and older players.” 

Two of those younger players in outstanding form are wings Dale Clacherty and 19-year-old Isaac Upton 

McCormack said the decision to bring Upton into the side at the expense of Rob Williamson was very hard.

“In the end Isaac deserved an opportunity to build with this side and he took it with open hands,” he said.

“Dale is one of those players that wherever you put him you will always get 110 per cent. He has great skills and in recent weeks he has really shown a turn of pace. 

“He was probably a little apprehensive about playing on the wing initially, but all credit to him he has gone ahead in leaps and bounds. 

“Playing outside the calibre of some of the players he is, Dale is getting plenty of opportunities and I’ve given him a licence to essentially pop up where he wants playing like a third centre.

“That’s been our plan to keep him involved and he has been fantastic for us on the wing and can go to the centres if required. 

“He has emersed himself since pre-season in getting better and is a real asset.”