The Maitland Pickers face a six-day turnaround and a trip out west as Newcastle Rugby League's premiers embark on their final challenge for 2022.
Fresh from Sunday's dominant display, recording one of the biggest margins ever in a Newcastle first-grade decider, the Pickers will now tackle Forbes Magpies in Parkes on Saturday.
The cross-competition clash helps form the opening round of President's Cup, under the NSW Rugby League banner, with Collegians (Illawarra) and Hills Bulls (Ron Massey Cup) drawn in the other semi.
Winners progress to a statewide showdown at Parramatta's CommBank Stadium on Sunday, September 25, playing on the same bill as NSW Cup and Jersey Flegg Cup title encounters.
It will be the first time the end-of-season President's Cup concept has gone ahead, having been impacted by COVID the last two years.
Maitland won a makeshift President's Cup competition in 2020, one of eight sides entering from across NSW over a 10-week period.
The Pickers qualified for this year's edition after taking out the weekend's Newcastle RL grand final, defeating Macquarie 40-4 at McDonald Jones Stadium.
This scoreline equalled the 36-point margin of 2019, Wests beating Cessnock 36-0, and fell just behind the 51-14 effort of Wests against Souths in 1998.
It was also the most points scored by a winning team since 2006, when Lakes accounted for Nelson Bay 40-24.
Maitland pivot and former Knights player Brock Lamb scored half the total via two tries and six goals.
"It's awesome. As you can see by the crowd and the fans, it just means the world to Maitland," Lamb told the Newcastle Herald amid post-match celebrations.
"I'm so stoked we could provide what we needed to get the job done and bring it home."
Forbes will have the advantage of an extra week off, having triumphed 26-16 over Dubbo CYMS on September 4 to claim the recently formed Western Premiership.
Magpies fullback Mitch Andrews was named best on ground in the grand final, Cameron Greenhalgh coaches son Nick in the side while Charlie Lennon returned home mid season after a Jersey Flegg stint at the Canterbury Bulldogs.
