Elijah Rasiga became the first Maitland try-scorer in the NSW Rugby League's new statewide competition with Matt Soper-Lawler, Daniel Langbridge, Brock Lamb, Chad O'Donnell and Cooper Jenkins also crossing in the six try to four victory.

Pickers coach Matt Lantry said given Wentworthville's record as three-times defending Ron Massey Cup premiers it was a great start to the President's Cup campaign but every week was going to be a huge challenge.

"If you had have said during the week that you'd come away from Wentworthville with a 32-24 win, you'd take it every day of the week," Lantry said.

"We weren't too sure what to expect, but we just worried about ourselves all week. We wanted to play well as a group and the boys came out and executed really well.

"Our first half set the game up and then obviously a bit of a scare during the second half when Wenty came back at us but that was probably always going to be the case."

The Pickers made a bright start and led 26-6 at the main break, with the Magpies not getting on the board until just before the break.

The Magpies scored first after half-time, but Maitland reasserted control with a converted try..

Wentworthville scored two more converted tries to raise some hopes of a comeback but the Pickers had done enough to take the points and secure a memorable victory.

"I thought our spine played well in patches today, I thought Daniel Langbridge at fullback was one of our top performers," Lantry said

"It was his first game at fullback for a while, he predominantly plays five-eighth so it was a bit of trial and error, but I was more than happy with the way he handled himself at the back.

I think Brock (Lamb), Chad (O'Donnell) and Alex (Langbridge) would probably put their hand up and say they could have executed better at key moments in the game than what they did.

But for a first hit out with a squad that hasn't played together since mid-March, with just a trial game then, I'm certainly happy with what they delivered today.

We managed possession really well in the first half. I thought we managed the defensive load and middle third, where Wentworthville tried to come a bit, quite well and minimised their attacking opportunities.

"The things we put in place and what we've been working towards over the course of the pre-season really came up to scratch.

"Probably the disappointing thing, we spoke about after the match, that we didn't quite put a full 80 minute performance together.

"But it is round one and not round nine and we can really build on that performance.

Lantry said everyone was excited about coming back to Maitland and hosting Dubbo CYMS on Saturday.

"While the crowd will be restricted to 500 at Maitland Sportsground we want to get the full 500 in and get some people to have a look at this team because they are going to represent Maitland in the right manner both on and off the field.

"It's a great start, but we won't be getting ahead of ourselves. Our opponent next Saturday, Dubbo had a loss this weekend and will be looking to bounce back.

"It will be another challenge and that's what this competition is about. It's a challenge each and every week, there is not going to be an easy game."

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