@trooa @trooa I also haven't watched any of the Mount's games (and only one other club game) so have no idea who is playing well or not. If all the rumored signings are true, then our backline will be pretty exciting with competition for places in pretty much all positions. Ainsley and Wardlaw will be big boots to fill in the locking department however but there are quite a few options. Three specialist locks are usually selected with one or two who can play lock/no.6/no.8. Franklin, Leapepe, Van den Hoven, Morris, Kapeli, Matenga, Caroll and Mewett have all be contracted with The Bay before.

@KiwiPie said in Bay NPC Fixtures 2020: @Hooroo said in Bay NPC Fixtures 2020: @KiwiPie said in Bay NPC Fixtures 2020: Here we go - 3 Tauranga games in the final 4 weeks for that semi-final push. Hopefully the 4th of Oct is a shield challenge.... That's taking a long view! and hopeful

This worth a listen. They talk to the BOPRU CEO about the number of Super players in the squad next year, TTT and Rapid rugby. https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/plenty-of-steam/e/65036094?autoplay=true

Clayton McMiillan Ross Geldenhuys

Yep if you pick any of the older players who played 50 tests you'd be fairly safe

I get BOP press releases emailed to me, I will try and post them more.

@Magpie_in_aus said in Battle of the Bays: Steamers v Magpies: They win the title, create a concert called bay dreams them behave like this....https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/118568012/mass-brawl-at-bay-dreams-in-bay-of-plenty I feel you should rescind the name. mate, anyone will tell you there are no locals at the Mount this time of year. Probably just drunken flogs on holiday escaping from shitholes like Hastings and Taradale

@Snollygoster Okay, predictably no response !! I've since found out that Campbell is out for the season and Chris Eves is playing for the Development team on Saturday at the Domain (as are 4 or 5 other contracted players)

@taniwharugby bugger injuries are like a cancer when loosing,

@Number-10 said in Taranaki vs BOP: Sept 30, 1995 - BOP won 41-27 Wow that's pretty momentous then - must be one of the longer streaks broken then.

Meh, it was only Waikato...

Yes, its strange to think that, but for a poor conversion and stupid pass to Ioane, we could possibly be unbeaten at this stage. In reality I really don't think that we deserve to be unbeaten however. We just can't seem to capitalize on the advantage and "put a team away". And yes, that decision to continue scrumming rather than take a penalty kick was odd in retrospect. Some of the tactics in general were odd actually and ultimately unsuccessful. One thing that is noticeable this year is the chip (or grubber) kick beyond the defensive line out to a waiting player which seems to be working for some teams. I saw them practicing it in the warmup using Narawa but was never used during the game. Despite my negativeness and cynicism there is plenty to be happy about this year. It would have to rate as the best year for a long time with many players excelling and a minimum of injuries (possibly). Like Kiwipie said, the permutations for the finals are beginning to become apparent. I still think that on our day we can beat anyone but no win is guaranteed but this year we seem to be more consistent .

@Steven-Harris said in North Harbour v Bay of Plenty: @JK interesting that Northland who had a club day at the Magpies game on Saturday attracted over 7;000 people,.probably the best crowd of the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup ..it was promoted vey well..;with free buses laid on for all the clubs that were able to attend. Wasn’t a huge amount of promotion for the harbour one and certainly none from our club given the game clashed with junior prize giving which was a very well attended affair. I imagine it would be the same for many other shore clubs given junior rugby finished on the Saturday for the season

@Dice We had some shockers like Emersen Tamura-Paki, Jono Owen and Isi Tu'ungafasi who were barely club standard. He's done ok since leaving has Isi but he was awful for us.

@Stargazer A lot of attacking talent in the back line for the bay Ravouvou had a good game and was replaced at half time By Narawa who was just as dangerous when he came on. Forward pack was really dominant and I never felt like Waikato would get back into it. The Waikato Centre had a great game defiantly got the better of Webber.

I thought Koroi was a fullback/wing? Why would they bother with him there. Rats that Ioane was unable to play. Maybe they could use someone like Fletcher Smith in their team. Wait.

Squad named Tuesday hence they played under Wasps banner today. Team looked good today, B Team against Wellington was competitive, thought Collier played particularly well. Half against Counties & likely top team next week was Ross Harris Thwaites Wardlaw Carroll Blake Karpik Papalii Judd Hollinshead Fuatai Garland Webber Narawa Tiatia. 34-0 win, defence brilliant. Three tries through defensive pressure forcing silly passes on their own goal line for intercepts. Tiatia was exceptional, talk huge could always hear him barking & menacing on attack. Papalii definitely what we needed with his big abrasive style. Everybody played well in second half except Webber, dropped a few balls & looked rusty.

@Higgins Yep, that's it! Managed to finally find the "Global Rapid Rugby" thread. If I can find more info on the Steamers' rapid rugby plans, I'll post it in that thread.

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.

@KiwiPie said in Anyone in for Fern Mitre 10 Tipping: We're on the lookout for tippers again this season. Last season's team was myself plus @trooa @Donsteppa @sportboy @bayimports - we can have up to 6 players. I have seen that trooa is back, anyone else interested in signing up? If you are go to https://www.thesilverfern.com/tipping/ And just in the nick of time, the famous five are back in the saddle for another crack at glory. We were 7th of 8 on the ladder last season and lost the Plate final to Harbour-Auckland for a final placing of 6th so we're sure to go under the radar.

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!

Yep - good win. Particularly without Retallick and Franklin. I thought Callander was good. Blake and Karpik outstanding - be interesting to see what the loose trio will be for Wellington. Backline superb. Bring on the final.

Campbell now ahead of Judd - watching the replay, a lot of the dropped ball was the result of Judd's poor delivery. Not sure why he has regressed as the season progressed.

@taniwharugby Great idea! Wellington 9 32 Northland 9 20 BOP 9 18 Manawatu 8 16 Otago 9 12 HB 9 4 Southland 9 1 We're both in the semis already!