Cessnock ended Kurri Kurri's four-year-hold on the Charity Shield in a gutsy second half inspired by one of the smallest and one of the biggest players in the Newcastle RL competition.
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Dynamic, pint-sized dummy-half Nick Lawrence and two axe-handle wide centre/back rower Dan Metcalfe combined to turn a 10-6 half-time deficit into an 18-10 victory in the Charity Shield deciding game at Cessnock Sportsground on Saturday night.
In a moment of sheer power, Metcalfe ran at full speed onto a pass from a penalty 10-metres out from the tryline and headlong and through the Bulldogs line to square the scores at 10-all, and a 12-10 lead after a successful conversion.
But while Metcalfe stunned the big crowd with sheer power, young Lawrence had them transfixed with the craft of a dummy-half wizard.
Lawrence came into the fray after Peter Wilson started the game and it's a combination that will cause opposition's plenty of headaches.
"Nick Lawrence is a great talent. He is not big, but not many 9s are, but he is tenacious, he's tough, his identification in the ruck is exceptional," Edwards said.
"I just didn't want him to start in the pressure cooker of that tonight and I brought him off the bench.
"I thought he made a difference he squared us up and his ruck recognition is outstanding and he is a great kid.
"Pete's a tough kid, he hasn't got the instincts of No.9 that the other kid's got, he has been a 13, back-row kid all his life. His time at No.9 has been an after-thought and he is quite adequate there but he doesn't have the ruck knowledge or instincts of the other kid.
"They counteract each other way very well."
Edwards was extremely proud of his entire team to firstly stick with the Bulldogs and then prevail at the end.
"Based on the stats I've got we shouldn't have won the footy game tonight," he said.
"We could have been 20-6 or even 30-6 down at half-time and the game is gone, but to our credit we stuck at it.
"That's the sign of a side that it meant a bit to them and that's a pleasing thing for me.
"I was very proud, especially of the guys who because of the numbers had to play second grade and then came on and made a difference.
"We've got a top 25 to 30 kids now who can all play first grade, which was my goal when I first came here."
Edwards said he was impressed again with the Bulldogs.
"I hope both teams are strong, that both sides push that top five or even top three. They did last year. They don't give you anything and they proved that again tonight."
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