Maitland Pickers beat Macquarie Scorpions 23-16 in fiery grand-final rematch

The game erupted in the 63^rd minute at Maitland No 1 Sportsground with both sides coming together in a melee. Pickers lock Sam Anderson was sent from the field for an alleged headbutt.

Maitland prop James Taylor was marched for 10 minutes for his involvement in the brawl while hooker Alex Langbridge followed soon after for dissent. A Macquarie player was also sent-off for 10 minutes.

Amazingly, with the scores even at 16-16, the Pickers took the lead with 10 players on the field, winger Will Nieuwenhuise diving over in the corner.

Macquarie then had captain Kerrod Holland sent to the bin and Maitland added a field goal and penalty goal to seal the win.

Maitland coach Matt Lantry said he was proud of his side after going down to 10 players.

"I thought actually in a real negative situation, it actually galvanized our group," he said.

"We're a pretty tight-knit group at the best of times but that 10 minute period with just having 10 players on the field, you just saw how hard these blokes actually work for themselves.

"I thought our management through that period was excellent but just our desire to embrace the challenge and have a crack and see how we go was exceptional."

Following the melee, Lantry did lay some blame at the officials who he said failed to stamp out niggle early in the game, leading to frustrations boiling over in the second-half.

"If a line was drawn in the sand early we probably wouldn't have ended up with five blokes sitting-off at any one particular point," he said.

"I'm sure that the incidents with the five players that were removed from the field was more bought about from frustration than anything else."

The Pickers raced out of the blocks in a re-match of last year's grand-final, James Bradley diving on a perfectly weighted kick from half-back Brock Lamb.

Anderson then scored next to the posts and when prop Jayden Butterfield barged over a short time later, the Pickers were up 16-0 inside 30 minutes.

With the score at risk of blowing out, the Scorpions kept themselves in the match through a try to backrower Jordan Noble just before half-time.

Macquarie forward Cody Bryant scored 10 minutes after the break before both sides had players sent-off, the Scorpions enjoying a two-player advantage.

Bryant grabbed another to even the scores and with only 10 players on the field, the Pickers were up against it.

However, a left-sided shift presented Nieuwenhuise with enough space to touch down for the match-winning try.

The win keeps Maitland in second-place behind the Cessnock Goannas with five wins and one loss through the first seven rounds.

The Pickers travel to play Western Suburbs on Sunday, May 21.

Maitland had a convincing 32-10 win over Macquarie in reserve grade with Sean Walker scoring a double in the seven tries to two win.

The Pickers are undefeated and sit two wins clear at the top-of-the-table.

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