The Maitland Pickers will host the North Sydney Bears in a blockbuster game at Maitland Sportsground on September 5 after the President's Cup draw was redrawn with the addition of two new teams Wests Illawarra and Thirroul Butchers.
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The Pickers still start their campaign on the road against Wentworthville on Sunday, July 19, but their first home game on Saturday, July 25, will be against Dubbo CYMS instead of Hills Bulls.
Maitland will now play Dubbo CYMS, Western Rams, Wests Illawarra and North Sydney Bears at home and travel to take on Wentworthville, Hills Bulls, Thirroul Butchers and Glebe Burwood Wolves.
The addition of Wests Illawarra and Thirroul Butchers allows for a nine-team competition played over nine rounds, with one bye for each team. The two weeks of finals includes a grand final weekend on September 26-27.
The integrity of the Pickers' initial draw remains in terms of home games continuing to coincide with the Newcastle Rugby League competition in which Maitland will run tier one and two men's teams, under-19s and women's Blues Tag.
Unfortunately, not all Maitland teams will be in action at the same venue for away games in the Newcastle RL competition with only six teams in tier one (no Macquaire and Kurri Kurri) and seven in tier two (no Macquarie).
In the final home and away round of the Newcastle competition on September 26, Maitland's Blues Tag and under-19s will be at home, tier one is away at Wests and tier 2 has the bye.
NSWRL football general manager Barrie-Jon Mather said he was absolutely thrilled to see the addition of the two new clubs into the President's Cup for the 2020 season as it demonstrated there was a real appetite in the community to get rugby league back up and running,
"We appreciate all the hard work that has been done behind the scenes, by both the NSWRL and our clubs, to get to this point after a challenging time for everyone," Mather said.
"I can't wait to see the skills on show in all our competitions and the addition of regional NSW teams to the President's Cup will make it a truly unique spectacle.
"I'm looking forward to getting to the footy this weekend and I'd like to remind everyone to observe all the social distancing guidelines so we can all enjoy the season ahead."
MAITLAND DRAW FOR PRESIDENT'S CUP: Wentworthville on Sunday, July 19 (A); Dubbo CYMS on Saturday, July 25 (H); Hills Bulls, August 1-2 (A); Bye August 8-9; Western Rams, August 15 (H); Thirroul Butchers, August 22 (A); Wests Illawarra, August 29 (H); North Sydney Bears, September 5 (H); A Glebe Burwood Wolves, September 12 (A).
NEWCASTLE DRAW: Cessnock, July 18 (A); Central Newcastle, July 25 (H); Lakes United, August 1 (A); Bye, August 8-9 (A); Western Suburbs, August 15 (H); Kurri Kurri, August 22 (A); South Newcastle, August 29 (H); Cessnock, September 12 (H); Central Newcastle, September 20 (A); Wests and Nelson Bay September 26-27 (A and H)