Ham was given two separate yellow cards from referee Richard Parker. The second came 12 minutes into the second half.

Wanderers were twice reduced to 13 men, including the final seven minutes when replacement Bill Coffey was also sent to the bin.

Maitland also finished a man down after Chris Logan, who played off the bench despite being ruled out mid-season with a torn ACL, was given a yellow card for taking out a player without the ball.

Wanderers will now meet Hamilton in the preliminary final for the right to play Merewether in the grand final.

Whether Ham will be on deck is in the hands of the judiciary. His first card was for a ruck infringement in the 31st minute. The second for an alleged high tackle as a Maitland player was going to ground.

"We will be defending it like you have never seen because it was a joke," furious Wanderers coach Dan Beckett said. "He gets punished for cynical things that happen at every ruck.

"That is where the disconnect in rugby is. You don't put the work in to have a game completely wrecked like that. We weren't doing anything Maitland weren't doing."

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The Blacks threw everything at the Two Blues in a frenetic final 10 minutes punctuated by desperate tackles and big plays.

Breakaway Sam Callow was a colossus for Maitland. Nick Davidson, playing with a broken wrist, provided punch in the second half and Justis Gerrard was enormous.

Wanderers were held up over the tryline with two minutes remaining.

Powerhouse Wanderers centre Nimi Qio was knocked into touch as he was about to score in the 79th minute.

At the other end, Wanderers fly-half Cal McDonald hustled back to clean up a kick and then managed to thump the ball 30 metres down the field into touch.

Qio made big tackles, Dillon Rowney did the same.

Replacement lock Will Archer willed his way across the line in the corner to put Wanderers ahead 22-17 with 18 minutes to play.

"We shouldn't have needed to show that character," Beckett said. "You can do anything in a Wanderers jersey. In many ways it was probably great that we lost our captain. He means so much to the club and we responded.

"I don't think anyone has ever seen a player like Nimi in the competition. He is a freak. Cal Mac, Dilon Rowney ... I was more proud of Marcus Christensen, Liam Brice and Piers Morrell.

"When we down to 13 players, they should have scored 21 points and they scored seven.

"That is what wins the game."

** In the women's final series, Wanderers and Hamilton drew 5-all in the major semi-final. The Two Blues, as minor premiers, progressed to the grand final. The Hawks will play Maitland in the preliminary final. The Blacks got a free ride to the grand final qualifier after The Waratahs forfeited the minor semi-final.