Maitland Pickers defeated Forbes Magpies 52-6 in the Presidents Cup

The Magpies hosted Maitland at Parkes' Pioneer Oval but it was all the visitors as they dominated the majority of the match to win 52-6.

The win books the Pickers a spot in the final of the competition next weekend at CommBank Stadium and captain Alex Langbridge thought his side set up Saturday's win early in the match.

"It was a good, tough game," he said.

"We had to make sure we went out hard early and set the standard, we were really pleased with our efforts particularly upfront after a few big celebrations."

After a few weeks off, Forbes started slow and coach Cameron Greenhalgh knows the better team won on the day.

"It was (a tough one), we made a couple of mistakes early and the lead jumped out to 16," he said.

"Then I thought when we had the football they were under the pump.

"We knew we needed to be good defensively because they were shifted but they just found some holes in times which happens.

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"That happens against sides who are coming in fresh, it took us a little bit I suppose but once we got going we did some good things."

Maitland got on the board immediately through former Newcastle Knight Brock Lamb who scored in the opening two minutes of the match before nailing the conversion.

Things got even better for the visitors as Garry Anderson scored the Pickers' second try of the match, a third quick four-pointer to Jayden Butterfield and another Lamb conversion had the Magpies on the backfoot.

Maitland led 16-0 after just 14 minutes before the game became an arm wrestle.

Both sides committed errors inside their own halves but neither team could capitalise.

This was until Bradley James scored a try as the Pickers stripped Forbes' left edge for numbers.

Lamb once again converted the try and would play a huge hand in Maitland's next four-pointer.

Off the back of points, Lamb put a clever chip over the top for James who streaked down the wing before finding Anderson back inside as Maitland toyed with Forbes.

The conversion was once again successful and the visitors ended the break up 28-0.

Things didn't get much better for Forbes after the break as Peter Wilson scored early but soon the Magpies would get some joy.

Backrower Traie Merritt beat several Maitland defenders to score the Magpies' lone try of the afternoon, a successful conversion from Nick Greenhalgh made the scoreboard look better for Forbes but the Pickers weren't done yet.

Reid Alchin, Pat Mata'uita and Matt Soper-Lawler all scored late tries as Maitland ran away with the match late to advance to the final of the competition.

The Pickers will now face Hill Bulls after they defeated MHC Collegians 26-16 in their match on Saturday.

Having earned an early rest, Langbridge admitted it was always Maitland's intention to start fast.

"We really focused on that this week and in the warm-up," he said.

"In the sheds, it was about setting the platform early and then getting stuck in from there.

"We are happy we were able to execute it."

Looking ahead, Langbridge was unaware of who had won the other semi-final but knows they will be a strong opponent.

"We will have a tough game," he said.

"It will be nice to play on Bankwest (CommBank), it should be a good challenge."

Fresh off their Peter McDonald Premiership triumph, Greenhalgh knows his squad will learn a lot from coming against such a professional side.

"That's a challenge, it's been a challenge all year playing clubs you haven't seen before," he said.

"I'm still proud of the boys' efforts and it was just one of those games."

MAITLAND PICKERS 52 (Garry Anderson 2, Matt Soper-Lawler, Bradley James, Brock Lamb, Reid Alchin, Peter Wilson, Pat Mata'uita tries; Lamb 8 conversions) defeated FORBES MAGPIES 6 (Traie Merritt try; Nick Greenhalgh conversion)

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