Maitland Blacks coach Luke Cunningham has reset his side's sights for a possible top-two finish after beating perennial power side Hamilton Hawks 41-15 at Marcellin Park on Saturday.
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Just a week after a disappointing loss to University, the Blacks turned on some of their best form of the season to claim a rare clean sweep over the Hawks.
The win gives Maitland (33 points from 10 games) a break on Wanderers (28 from nine), Nelson Bay (26 from 10) and University (21 from 10) in the chase for the final two spots in the top four, but if Maitland can maintain it's winning form and collects bonus points along the way it could overtake Hamilton (42 from 11) into second.
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Cunningham said importantly the Blacks' fate was now back in their own hands after the five tries to two win.
Riley Woods continued his strong form with a second-half double and Aiden Procopis, Dane Corben and Caileb Gerrard all scored tries. Corben was in tremendous form with the boot converting all five tries and two penalty goals for a personally points tally of 21 points.
Cunningham said the team was missing a number of experienced first graders but the players who had come in had performed very well and would be hard to displace from the starting 15.
"The guys who have stood in are doing the job and it might not be a case of the guys returning straight into the team. I need to reward the players who have done the job over the past four weeks," he said.
"We've rolled two of the top teams and pushed Merewether. It's a good indication of where the club is at where seasoned first graders are missing, but it's not a matter of them coming straight back into the fold now because we are getting the results with the guys who are stepping up.
"The win on Saturday means we are in control of our end of season campaign. It gives us that little bit of a buffer at the moment over everyone fighting out for that fourth spot.
"We're certainly not taking the foot off the pedal, but it gives us a bit of breathing space.
"I'm not content for where we are at. I still want to push for that top-two spot which is now well and truly possible for us."
"The Blacks are away to Singleton next week before a crunch game against Nelson Bay, followed by Southern Beaches away and top of the table Merewether at home in the final round..
"The Nelson Bay game is the big one for us, I may rest a couple of guys this week against Singo who are nursing some bumps and bruises. We beat the Bay in a fortnight and we secure our spot in the semi-finals."
The club raised about $19,000 for Gotcha4Life with auction of jumpers.