2019 Bay of Plenty Steamers coaching team named 2019 Steamers Management: Head Coach: Clayton McMillan Assistant Coaches: Mike Rogers, Marty Bourke and Mike Delany Manager: Wayne Brill Player Development Manager: Ati Aaifou-Olive Head Strength & Conditioning Coach: Thomas Stebbing Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach/GPS Analyst: Connor McNeill Assistant Strength & Conditioning Coach: Scott Joblin Physio: Paul Cameron Head Analyst: Koichi Kinoshita Assistant Analyst: Hannah McDonald

Oh what could have been. If we played with the acuracy we showed today, we'd be in the semis. Though another game where we leaked points in the last 20. Fitness needs to be looked at next year. Narawa looked great on the wing. Plenty of positives from the pack. We needed a better centre (shame Foketi was injured all season) this year. A new backs coach too. We were too predictable. Shame we didn't have Monty Ioane this year. He was electric. I'm still dumbfounded how he missed out on a super contract.

@higgins said in Southland vs BOP: All very quiet in here as Bay of Plenty are trying to achieve the seemingly impossible, losing to Southland. We really gave it a good go. Despite setpiece dominance and a maul that was walking them back and winning a penalty every time, we contrived to keep handing Southland opportunities and they have some dangerous runners. If we had lost, it would have been peak choke. With the hooter gone, be a man up, have your own 5m attacking scrum, win the scrum, have the ball in the half-back's hands about to kick it 10m into touch - and still finish the game frantically defending your own line is quite an achievement.

Definitely has the potential to be a great Super Rugby player, he’ll be in and around the squad but another year with NZ 20’s & M10 before Super Rugby wont hurt. Love how he keeps things straight & attacks the line constantly, better first five defender than most. Looks to be trying too hard to win like most Steamers at the moment, hopefully they can just let loose against Southland and will see his best. Goal kicking definitely a major work on struggled at Jock Hobbs as well as M10.

Particularly the goalkicker that hit the upright from directly in front.

The only save in grace was that the Bay v Waikato game wasn't a shield challenge and we still have a chance at holding the shield at the end of the season.

KiwiPie said: I'm having a bad feeling about this game - didn't need some of the top performers out and putting players in for first starts in key positions. But I'm naturally pessimistic. I hate being spot on ..... semis not impossible with the direct competition still to play but starting to look like we'll need to win them all.

North Harbour has been scratchy all year. Somehow their results and margins have consistently been better than their form deserves. I guess they get credit for that

What a joke!! I took my daughter to the game and she had no interest in any of the other so called mascots but was happy to receive a lolly from Hori and wants to get his autograph at the next home game. Great game by chase Taitai and good to see the srum go well with all the changes. SHAME we don't have a stadium that's up to standard tho.

It sounds like Canterbury is stunting his development as a player and he should be immediately returned to the Magpies to play out the rest of the season.

@bopred Yes, as they stated..."it wasn't pretty" and there is a lot to work on. "Counties–Manukau ran more metres, completed more passes and carried the ball more times than Bay of Plenty on Thursday night. The opposition made more tackles and missed fewer. They won more lineouts and didn't lose as many as the Bay on their own throw-in. The Steamers conceded more penalties, didn't win as many rucks and mauls and made fewer clean breaks." But the fact that we won after such a performance speaks volumes of how they "hung in there". You can't deny its a good start to the season however.

Great start to the comp from BOP, confidence gained form those 2 wins will be invaluable as they get to the tougher part of the comp and play Championship teams

@bopred I was at the game and there crowd was fairly sparse as it usually is in Rotovegas. Its usually hard to get people to go out on a cold winters night in Rotorua and having the test on the same night cannot have helped.

@trooa here you go. http://www.thesilverfern.com/tipping/ And still space for one more tipper

Oh what could have been. If we played with the acuracy we showed today, we'd be in the semis. Though another game where we leaked points in the last 20. Fitness needs to be looked at next year. Narawa looked great on the wing. Plenty of positives from the pack. We needed a better centre (shame Foketi was injured all season) this year. A new backs coach too. We were too predictable. Shame we didn't have Monty Ioane this year. He was electric. I'm still dumbfounded how he missed out on a super contract.

Yep, there's been a clean out of our locking stocks which is a worry as our lineout work and general play from them last year was second to none. However there are a few replacements still on the scene. I'm pretty sure Lars Morris from Te Puke Sports is contracted but missed last season with injury. Ardron (The Canadian) is playing creditably for the Cheifs apparently. The hard working Wardlaw from Rotoiti has been called in for injury replacement for the Cheifs also. I see also that Tim Bond (who played for us a few seasons back and played for Northland last year) is turning out for Te Puke Sports.

Good to see Hepetema being given an opportunity. Not sure of the count - but it does appear if post/pre season injuries for Super squads is very high. I wonder if it is the culmination of a long season (Super, NPC, additional representative games) - where players haven't had a chance to allow for injuries to heal properly. Or alternatively, just the bashing undertaken in pre season is too much - although I would assume that it is fitness only (i.e. climbing bloody hills) as it is too early for contact. I am sure that there is a PhD there for someone who looks at it hard enough!

What a great contest - the Bay didn't lie down and we showed we had some game breakers as well. Pack was solid in the darkest times but now we have a really good back 5 behind a general in 10. Webber has been great all season, Tiatia really came on late in the season and his offloading has been spectacular. We just couldn't defend aggressively enough to stop their offloads and once they start rolling, they are hard to stop. Ardron - baffled too other than he looks like he should be a beast at 8. He's tall and broad etc. But he just doesn't seem to bend the line like Parete. Chiefs haven't made many bad signings in recent years though. I fear that backline will be broken up before next season. Really hard to crack super rugby unless you get contracted young so we could lose a few of them overseas - especially after showing what they can do on a bigger stage.

Woohoo!