After three days of intense competition, Newcastle finished in a three-way tie for first in the championship division, but Liverpool clinched the crown on a countback.

Emotions ran high at the National Park courts when the full-time hooter sounded for the final game.

Newcastle beat Hills District 19-7 and the win put them in equal first place with Liverpool and Sutherland.

To add to the tension, Newcastle had to wait until the presentation to find out they had missed out on the title and finished second.

Fighting back tears, Geise said she was proud of the team.

"They worked tirelessly all tournament and gave it everything, every training session and every game," she said.

About 3500 junior netballers, along with family, coaches and support staff from more than 80 netball associations, flocked to Newcastle, Maitland, Charlestown and Belmont for the three-day event.

More than 2700 games were played by 295 teams.

Maitland placed ninth in the 15s and Charlestown 11th but it was Newcastle that produced their best result in the state titles to date. Last year's squad placed sixth.

Maitland showed depth through the age groups with the 13s and 14s finishing runners-up in division two.

Muswellbrook took out the division three under-12 title, while Nelson Bay took out division four of under 13s.