Maitland, Central, Cessnock and Macquarie all had field days against their opponents with Afflick now potentially facing a charge from the match review committee this week.

The Pickers maintained their competition lead with a 34-4 victory over Souths at Townson Oval, the Butcher Boys held on to second spot with a 56-0 trouncing of the last-placed Bulldogs at Kurri Sportsground, the Goannas stayed third after accounting for The Entrance 28-6 at Cessnock Sportsground and the Scorpions moved into outright fourth by dominating Wyong 44-0 at Lyall Peacock Field.

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Maitland and Souths were yet to score when Afflick's outstretched arm made contact with Pickers fullback Daniel Langbridge, returning from mid-season ankle surgery, around the head in the 16^th minute.

Langbridge was in full flight when returning a kick and was collected near the 20-metre line.

The referee described the incident as "reckless" and gave Afflick his marching orders, meaning the Lions were forced to play with 12 men for the rest of the encounter.

Maitland took full advantage of the situation and piled on 28 points before half-time.

"I was a little bit disappointed we didn't go on with it, but I understand the game was gone and credit to the opposition, who came out and showed some resilience after half-time," Pickers coach Matt Lantry said.

"We've also just come off such an interrupted period and missing that consistent footy, but we should get that now going into the back end of the year."

Souths, now sitting fifth by themselves, have lost five of their last six games.

Central pair Kiah Cooper and Cameron Anderson crossed for seven tries between them as Kurri conceded a half-century at home for the fourth time in 2022.

Cessnock captain-coach Harry Siejka praised the "outstanding" performance of Wyatt Shaw as the Goannas made it six straight wins and left The Entrance four points outside the top five.

Macquarie have now kept opponents scoreless four times this campaign, including three at Toronto, while Wyong are officially out of finals contention.

In the sole remaining fixture Western Suburbs edged out Lakes 20-18 at Cahill Oval on Saturday with former NRL player Cory Denniss scoring a double for the Rosellas.

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