MAITLAND coach Matt Lantry has challenged Newcastle Rugby League's two-time defending premiers to lift against Coalfields rivals Cessnock after a 16-match winning streak came to an end.
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The Pickers visit the Goannas this weekend and, up until Sunday's 36-30 loss to Western Suburbs, they hadn't suffered defeat since the corresponding game at Cessnock Sportsground last year.
"It's always a tough road trip to Cessnock and it doesn't get any easier this weekend. We're coming off a loss and they haven't been beaten yet, we've got a few things to work on and we need to be ready to go," Lantry told the Newcastle Herald.
Maitland's 20-12 loss away to Cessnock on April 29, 2023, had been the most recent blemish on an otherwise perfect record over the previous 12 months.
The Pickers won their remaining 11 rounds last season, followed by two successful outings in the Newcastle RL play-offs and a President's Cup triumph before opening 2024 with back-to-back victories.
This run eclipsed the 14 straight wins Maitland strung together across the end of 2022 and start of 2023 - made up of 10 rounds in different campaigns, two Newcastle RL play-offs and two President's Cup appearances.
Prior to that the Pickers went 20 in-a-row unbeaten, but this featured a draw splintering 11 wins in a COVID-collapsed 2021 and eight wins to begin 2022.
Maitland participated in NSW Rugby League's stand-alone President's Cup during a COVID-impacted 2020, dropping only one (last round) of 10 fixtures.
Overall, between 2020 and now (end of April, 2024), the Pickers have played 69 games (including finals and President's Cup) - 61 wins, two draws, six losses.
Sunday marked the club's fifth loss in Newcastle RL competition across 2021, 2022, 2023 and so far in 2024.
Lantry believes "attitude" hurt versus Wests, adding: "we knew exactly what we were up against and they wanted it a lot more. We had a very honest conversation at half-time [trailing 30-6] and we responded".
* SOUTHS recruit Matthew Moon will be preparing to play against his former club Macquarie for the first time following an off-season switch.
Moon, lining up at lock for the Lions, has crossed for a try in both Newcastle RL wins ahead of Sunday's trip to Lyall Peacock Field.
* KURRI KURRI coach Rip Taylor expects former NRL playmaker Liam Foran to have his first game for the Bulldogs on Saturday, when they host Lakes.
Foran, who recently turned 36, has yet make it out into the middle for Kurri while serving a three-match suspension carried over from group 21 last year.
Josh Callinan
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
My name is Josh Callinan and I'm a sports journalist at the Newcastle Herald. I started with the newspaper in 2016 after a decade at the Maitland Mercury.
