BROCK Lamb admits the President's Cup campaign of 2020 helped lay strong foundations for the current Maitland Pickers, but says some of those bonds actually stretch back even further.
The former NRL half, Newcastle Rugby League's leading point scorer this season, feels like Maitland's key playmakers are clicking ahead of Sunday's grand final having spent quality time together.
Lamb, five-eighth Chad O'Donnell and the Langbridge brothers, hooker Alex and fullback Dan, make up the Pickers' spine.
"It obviously helps us, we've sort of known each other for three years if not more," Lamb told the Newcastle Herald.
"Most of the boys already knew each other before that President's Cup year, but you can't beat spending time with each other and growing that bond.
"It makes playing footy a lot easier, especially for us in the spine and we've sort of got to the point now where we just know what each other's doing."
The quartet have been instrumental in Maitland's recent success, claiming a NSW Rugby League President's Cup title born out of COVID disruptions followed by back-to-back Newcastle RL minor premierships in 2021 and 2022.
But the missing prize for this group remains a Newcastle RL grand final and Lamb hopes the Pickers can better their recent most recent showing, a 42-14 win over upcoming opponents Macquarie in the major semi a fortnight ago.
"We've been looking for that for a while," Lamb said.
"There's been plenty of games where Chaddy would have a blinder or Al would have a blinder and us other boys weren't having the best game.
"So that game two weeks ago we all sort of had a pretty solid game which we've been trying to get for a while and now it's just about replicating that, if not going better again."
The 25-year-old former Australian Schoolboys representative reckons his main message come kick-off would be a simple one.
"We just need to play with confidence," he said.
"I feel like when we're confident we're fine. We're all on a high and we just get on the back of it.
"It's pretty simple for me, and I know other boys have got their opinion on what we need to do, but if we're all smiling and happy and go out there full of confidence I think we'll be right."
Lamb played around half of his 33 NRL games at McDonald Jones Stadium, all for the Knights bar a 2019 appearance for the Roosters against his old club.
"We're trying not to think about it as the big stadium in Newy, just another game of footy," he said.
"Hopefully we've got plenty of Pickers supporters in the crowd."
Lamb scored 173 points during the 18 regular rounds, mainly from goal kicking, and added another 22 to his personal tally on August 27.
This weekend marks his first Newcastle RL grand final in the top grade, but the Red Dogs junior previously returned from Knights duty for a decider with Maitland in under 18s.
