Maitland five-eight Chad O'Donnell and hooker Alex Langbridge are an integral part of the Pickers' winning formula, but just how successful they are as a combination on field is quite astounding.
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"I think we worked out we've only lost three games in three years playing together at nine and six," O'Donnell said of a record dating back to their time together at Wests Rosellas where they won the 2019 premiership under now Pickers coach Matt Lantry.
"We lost one game at Wests when we won the comp there and then we won all our rep fixtures we were in with the Rebels and NSW.
"Then we came to the Pickers and the President's Cup and only lost the one game prior to the finals which was against Glebe Burwood and last year we only lost the one game to Cessnock.
"We've won two premierships and were leading the comp by six points and on our way to a third last year.
"He (Langbridge) sets the tone from nine and then I can go off the back of it.
"Hopefully it remains the same this year."
Not that O'Donnell is claiming any plaudits, despite his exuberance and enthusiasm he is very much a team player.
On the field he is the first to congratulate teammates with a hug and a huge smile and off he is glowing in his praise for all at the club from players and coaches through to the administration.
"For me the motivation has always been winning a Newcastle comp at Maitland," O'Donnell said.
"We obviously had the success the first year in the President's Cup which was really good in itself but for me there was that underlying fact that it wasn't a Newcastle comp.
"The following year when we were six points clear and lost one game when we were a bit underdone against Cessnock, we were pretty confident going into a finals series but obviously it got called which was pretty frustrating.
"I guess coming into this year it just adds to that motivation really."
The winning formula is multi-faceted, firstly stability in terms of the core of the team, development of local juniors and creating a club culture of success that players want to come to and be part of.
O'Donnell riles at criticism that the Pickers are going out to buy a comp.
"I always take those comments personally. I get very involved, I know it's my club, but when people start talking about Maitland buying the comp the reality is every team is out to sign players and some just do it better than others," he said.
"They build those kind of cultures that people want to be part of. I think that's what we've got now at Maitland, players are coming to us to play for us rather than us chasing them.
"I think it just goes from our success we've had, people want to be part of that winning culture. I think it is good for our juniors coming through.
"The cultures within the club is very much a performance culture as well, you'll probably get pulled up by a player before you get pulled up by a coach especially in first grade.
"When things go wrong at training it will be the players who address an issue first.
"It's accountability with your peers, they are not having a go at you they are just demanding better from you.
"As people come into the system they realise that and it just drives that higher success rate."
O'Donnell was the first to sign a long-term deal committing himself to the club and was delighted when the rest of the team did as well, especially good mate Brock Lamb.
O'Donnell signed with the Pickers before Lamb decided to come back to Maitland, but playing together after playing against each other most of their careers they have forged an exciting combination.
"We've been friends since we were young but we went into different systems. He was at the Knights and I was down in Sydney. We'd train together in the off-season and then head our separate ways and play against each other," he said.
"When I signed at Maitland, he wasn't there yet he was still overseas.
"They sort of had talks about he might be coming back and I was like, 'No he won't, he'll stay overseas',
"But he did and we've reconnected that 'bromance' I guess."
The spine of halves O'Donnell, Lamb, Alex Langbridge at hooker and Landbridge's younger brother Daniel at full back is the best in the competition.
O'Donnell believes the forward pack should be rated the same.
"Our team is pretty much the same team, we're very fortunate to have the same one, six, seven and nine which has now been together for what will be our third year," O'Donnell said of the 2022 squad.
"Our forward pack again is three years together and most of us are on extended deals so we've sort of got that same contingent minus probably three players and then we've got a few in as well, mainly local juniors returning
"Our forwards are incredible, I don't think they get the credit they deserve. Talk of the likes of Sam Anderson who has been an NRL player before, James Taylor who was on the cusp and (Jayden Butterfield) Buttsy who is just an outstanding workhorse.
"Not only the go forward they get but the illusion they have around them. People are focused on them rather than us and then you've got the strike power of Al at No.9, Lamby at No.7 and then Dan and myself.
"It takes the sting away from us because people are trying to tackle them and we get some open holes from it.
"Drawing three and four tacklers when they are tackled which means we get a quicker play the ball and there's less players in the defensive line but equally they will just be a lead runner and they attract multiple defenders. They will open up a space for me and the others."
In 2021, the Pickers' for and against difference was 438 points up to round 17, an amazing 278 points better than the next best Macquarie Scorpions on 160.
Their attack was supreme but the defence was imposing as well keeping Central Newcastle, who were second on the ladder at the time, to a 30-0 score line in round 16 and keeping opponents to six points or less six times.
O'Donnell says defence is the key priority in Lantry coached team.
"Without giving too much away defence in our main priority through our training now and throughout the year," he said.
"Our philosophy with Matty as the coach is defence wins games. If we can defend our line the points will come because we have the attacking weapons there and our structures will fall into place.
"I think the other thing for us is that because we have been together so long we trust each other. There's a trust in the inside man. We'd rather win 6-0 than 40-10.
"It comes from the top. Matty is an incredible coach, he really drives it from the juniors right through
"All our systems flow right down to the 16s so they know that it's sort of that next man up mentality. They've already done it their own respective teams so if they get called up to first grade they can slot straight in.
"They know the same defensive structures, they know the same attacking structures it flows throughout."
