Hunter Rugby Union: Maitland Blacks end premiership drought, confident reign will continue

Maitland - the only one-team, one town, club in Hunter Rugby's premier competition - are the champions.

The Blacks, riding a wave of emotion, stormed to a 33-26 win over Merewether in the grand final at a heaving No.2 Sportsground on Saturday to end a 24-year premiership drought.

In a thrill-a-minute decider played in front of 5000 fans, many of whom were wearing black, Maitland came from 17-12 down after 30 minutes to record a famous victory.

The triumph, which sparked wild scenes, completed the double for the Blacks after they were runaway minor premiers.

Maitland's last premiership was in 1999 when they beat the now defunct Mayfield East. Twice they had made it to the decider since only to fall short.

Like in 1999, most of the 2023 side are home-grown.

The 'outsiders' are now Blacks for life.

"This is huge," said coach Luke Cunningham, who was halfback in the 2018 grand final side and is a Blacks junior. "We have always had a great culture and vibe within our club, but we haven't had that success. You combine those and we are going to be strong for a long time.

"A lot of these guys are here for good.

"In the next two years, we get about 80 juniors graduate into grade. A lot of them have represented NSW Country. Our club is in a great place."

Inspirational captain Sam Callow hails from Dunedoo but now calls Maitland home.

"When I arrived here three years ago, I knew the club was in a rebuilding stage," the 26-year-old breakaway said. "After the 2018 grand final, they lost a few of the older boys like Travis Brooke and Carl Manu. We had young guys coming through who were eager and keen. It is starting to pay off now."

Merewether No.8 Lachlan Milton was cleared to play late Friday night after the Rugby Australia Integrity Commission overturned a yellow card for offside in the major semi, his third which triggered a one-match ban.

In a submission used by the Greens, referee Jarryd Logan admitted he had made a mistake in giving Milton the card.

Maitland requested on Saturday morning that Logan be stood down from the game, citing conflict of interest. Their request was ignored.

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The lead up to Saturday's finale was full of controversy.

The match itself was fierce but controversy free.

The Greens were gallant in defeat.

"That hurts," said captain Sam Rouse, who along with breakaway Rhys Bray is headed to Germany for a stint at Heidelberg in the off-season. "The second half was a grind. Credit to Maitland, they are a great team. They deserved it this year.

"They capitalised more on those 50-50 opportunities. That is what the big games come down to - grabbing those opportunities. They did it better than us."

In the lower grades, Wanderers scored at the death to beat Merewether 17-11 in second grade, Soutrhern Beaches beat Merewether 29-13 in third grade.

Wanderers pipped Hamilton 10-5 in the women's decider.

In Suburban rugby, Nelson Bay accounted for Singleton Red 15-10 to take out A-Grade and Pokolbin edged Singleton Black 21-19 in B-Grade.