Brock Lamb produced arguably his "best game" for Maitland and Pat Mata'utia made a momentum-changing tackle as the Pickers powered into the club's first Newcastle Rugby League grand final in over a decade.
The minor premiers scored three converted tries in the space of seven minutes during the second half as they recorded a 42-14 win over Macquarie at Maitland Sportsground on Saturday.
Maitland now advance to the September 11 showdown at McDonald Jones Stadium, having last reached a decider in 2011.
"It was probably one of our better performances this year and we've struggled a bit against Macquarie recently so it was very pleasing," Pickers captain Alex Langbridge said.
"Everything just seemed to fall into place in the second half, but we defended our line well and toughed out a few periods during the first half."
Former NRL halfback Lamb scored a try and had a hand in at least three others, en route to a personal tally of 22 points, including nine goals from as many attempts.
"It was probably close to his best game with the Pickers since he's been back," Langbridge said.
Maitland led by 14 shortly after half-time before Macquarie centre Royce Geoffrey raced 70 metres for a try to make it 18-8.
Off the ensuing restart Mata'utia's hit forced a mistake off Bobby Treacy and the Pickers crossed straight from the scrum, sparking 18 consecutive points between the 51st and 58th minutes.
"It was a good shot and literally saved what could have been a massive momentum swing against us," Langbridge said.
Chad O'Donnell and Will Niewenhuise both nabbed doubles for Maitland.
Macquarie get a second chance and host Saturday's preliminary final at Lyall Peacock Field but the Scorpions are likely without halfback injured Bayden Searle for the rest of their 2022 campaign.
