The Maitland Pickers open age team completed their unlikely mission to claim the 2019 premiership with a 20-16 win in a thrilling finish from red-hot favourites Western Suburbs.
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It was the Pickers ninth must-win game in a row and the tiring but game side delivered a fairy tale end to captain coach Luke Mercer's playing career.
The Pickers led 14-0 at half-time and scored first try after the break and looked to be cruising to victory.
However, Wests showed why they had lost only two games in the season and kept on persevering to stay in the game to the final set.
They scored with 90 seconds remaining on the clock and their kicker quickly converted successfully to give them 51 seconds to score.
However, the Pickers down to 12 fresh men for the last five minutes were not going to let the game slip and the held out to score Maitland's first third grade premiership since 1988.
Mercer said he was incredibly proud of his side's effort.
"I'm just so glad we got the early lead and put the pressure on them. It was always our game plan especially against a team like Wests who have been the benchmark all year," he said.
"We felt if we could build the pressure on them they might make some silly errors which they did.
"Right at the end there we were down to 12 men, we looked to interchange our forwards but we didn't have any.
"We just had to did deep and it shows the character of the team.
"It was no fluke why we won today, that was nine wins in a row. It was just that self-belief."
Mercer said he could not have asked for more of his side in the first half.
"Wests have been the benchmark for a very good reason, they've only lost two games all year," he said.
"I knew we were up for the challenge. We had a couple of guys who got suspended last week, a starting front-rower and a starting back-rower which really hurt us.
"But the blokes who came into the squad stood up.
"We knew what we had to do and it we executed it very well."
The Pickers opened the scoring through a penalty in front of the posts.
Zac Purshouse crossed for the Pickers first try and after Tom Cremona conversion Maitland led 8-0.
Wests plowed on the pressure and moved the ball wide only for Cremona to jump high for an intercept and race 80 metres to score.
The Pickers were straight on the board after the break after regaining possession for a kick which bounced out of bounds. Barry Wells scored and Cremona converted for a 20-0 lead.