Maitland coach Matt Lantry said the Pickers bought Isaiah Olsen "for that exact moment".
The playmaker, who joined the Pickers this season after a couple of years with Central Newcastle, was one of the best on ground in Saturday's 10-4 win over South Newcastle Lions.
He switched from five-eighth to replace injured halfback Brock Lamb, and produced a standout showing at Townson Oval.
Olsen scored the only try of the first half two minutes before the break, and then set up another with a cross-field kick five minutes into the second stanza.
The two tries were enough to secure Maitland the win, and their sixth consecutive minor premiership with two rounds left to play.
"Bought him for that exact moment when Brock Lamb was unavailable," Lantry said of Olsen on Sunday. "You'll never replace Brock Lamb, and what was important was Isaiah Olsen was Isaiah Olsen yesterday.
"He played nice and direct, kicked the ball well and challenged the line. Really happy for him. He'll take a lot of confidence out of that. He started late with us in the pre-season but has really formed a strong connection with the playing group."
History repeated for Maitland in more ways than one, again sewing up first place on Sleapy's Day. They were also forced to do it on a mud-caked field for a second consecutive year.
In front of a big crowd on deck for the annual charity event, supporting Sleapy's Foundation, the top-of-the-table clash was an enthralling battle that went end to end.
"It was from 20-metre line to 20-metre line," Lantry said. "Something from the 1980s. You rarely see it these days. Two teams back 10 paces and going as hard as they can against each other, in a mud pit ... A real grinding win. I'm actually glad we've got next weekend off."
The win moved Maitland eight points clear of Souths. They have a 13-1 record for the year, and are on track to equal their best full regular season of Lantry's tenure, 2023 when they had 15 wins and only one loss.
The coach, who will depart after next season, said it was hard to compare campaigns but felt this one was pretty special.
"We're over the moon," he said. "You could really say it's now seven [minor premierships], if you looked at 2020 which was President's Cup down in Sydney, a nine-week comp.
"But 2021, all the way through to now, each one is different, but this one I feel like we've really earned it, because we've gone through a period of injuries our club hasn't seen previously."
Both sides were missing several key players. Souths, who are the only team to have beaten Maitland this year, were without former NRL player Lachlan Fitzgibbon but were boosted by the return of skipper Ryan Glanville and hooker Mitch Black. Maitland have booked the first week of the finals off, while Souths are all but home and hosed for the top five.
Kurri Kurri shored up their finals chances with a 14-12 win over The Entrance on the Central Coast on Saturday. It moved them into third position, a win clear of fourth-placed Central who postponed their clash with Wests until next weekend.
Callum Elsley, one of six Knights juniors selected last week in the Australian Schoolboys side, scored a try on debut for Kurri.
"I thought I'd strike while the iron was hot," Kurri coach Paul Stringer said of debuting Elsley at centre. "He went fantastic."
In the other Saturday game, Northern Hawks defeated Macquarie 36-20 at Toronto. Placed eighth, the Hawks, who have had six wins and eight losses, are level on 12 points with The Entrance (seventh) and Wests (sixth), but may have left their run a little too late. Their chances will hinge on a game against Souths in a fortnight, before they meet Lakes away in the final round.
"It does. It's a big game and a good test for us just to see where we are at as a club as well," Hawks coach Steve Simpson said. "We've just to keep winning to keep that slim finals hope alive. A few tight ones that we've lost in the last few weeks have hurt us."
Lakes United jumped into fifth after a 34-18 win over Cessnock on Sunday.
The result all but ended Cessnock's season, who will miss the finals a year after making the grand final. They host The Entrance in a catch-up game next weekend.
POINTS TABLE: Maitland (26), Souths (18), Kurri (16), Central (14), Lakes (13), Wests, The Entrance, Northern (12), Cessnock (9), Macquarie (4).
