Sam Parkinson continued his stunning start to first grade and Max Stafford reminded everyone of his rare talent as they both landed hat-tricks in the Maitland Blacks 48-0 win against old-rivals Singleton Bulls.
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On a big day for the club, with members of the 1999 first, second and third grade teams celebrating the 20th anniversary of their premierships, the Blacks had wins in all grades.
The eight-try effort sets up a top three battle against Hamilton Hawks at Marcellin Park on Saturday.
The Hawks are sitting second on the table, but no one doubts the winner of the past four premierships and Maitland's grand final nemesis last year is still the team to beat.
"We took another step forward, but we are going to have to go to another level to beat Hamilton next week," Blacks coach Matt Thomas said.
"As an old forward I love scrums, but we were guilty of creating too many of them with handling errors on Saturday.
"It's work in progress and I think the real positive was that we didn't concede any points.
"We made mistakes but defended them very well. Our defence was very good."
Thomas said Parkinson and Stafford had terrific games and full cashed in on their opportunities.
"Sam has created some real selection headaches for us going forward," Thomas said.
"To get a hat-trick in your second game is pretty impressive and he is probably playing a bit out of position.
"He is a real sponge and one of the things he is learning is that first grade is unrelenting and constant."
Thomas said Stafford provided the team with so much energy and creativity.
"He is a special player. He is just full of energy and enthusiasm and is constantly looking for ways to impact on the game.
"He really drives the team.
"The improvement in him since he first returned has been phenomenal. He is starting to form some really creative partnerships across the field."
Thomas said the Hawks were a step-up in opposition next week, but he believed the Blacks had every right to be confident of success if they play at their best.
"You need to keep your errors to a minimum and remain disciplined, but the same goes for Hamilton when they try to match us," he said.
"We've built our confidence and they game we went to play with two good wins over the past couple of weeks. Both teams have winning form it should be a great game."