Bay of Plenty Steamers are in the uncharted territory of second place in the Air New Zealand Cup, as they prepare for the first Cup game at Baypark, Mount Maunganui this Saturday (16 August 2008) afternoon.

Two wins (and a bonus point) from the opening two games, have seen the other championship contenders sit up and take notice. Last weekend the Steamers delighted the large home crowd at the Rotorua International stadium when they ran over Counties Manukau 45-3.

The forty-two point victory over Counties, was the biggest winning margin posted by the Bay, in the fifty games played between the two provinces.

Steamers Manager Sean Horan said “that the plan was always to target the opening matches to put early points on the board”. “This seasons Steamers campaign has been about (single) week by week performances, with this weekends match against North Harbour a fresh challenge for the team”.

The Steamers strategy was to sneak under the radar of this seasons Air New Zealand Cup contenders “The two victories have been built upon self-belief and maintaining confidence while keeping our feet firmly on the ground” said Horan.

The team knows, that the pre-season victory over this weekends opponent’s counts for nothing - with the Steamers ready to face a rugged challenge to their unbeaten record. One big plus for the Steamers is expectation of a large and vocal band of Steamers supporters.

Just one change to the starting fifteen (necessitated by injury) will see rugged Opotiki hooker Dean Elmiger, start for the first time in a Air New Zealand Cup match. The Eastern Bay rake who replaces John Paerenga - has stormed into the Steamers squad this season, by virtue of some outstanding performances, in the Baywide premier championship.

The Steamers will have the opportunity to make some progress in the victory stakes.  The 24 games played between the two Unions have seen North Harbour win 13 with the Steamers not having emerged victorious since the heady days of 2004.

BOP Steamers
1 Joe Savage, 2 Dean Elmiger, 3 James McGougan, 4 John Moore, 5 Culum Rettalick, 6 Solomon King, 7 Tanerau Latimer (captain), 8 Colin Bourke, 9 Jamie Nutbrown (v/captain), 10 Mike Delany, 11 Jason Hona, 12 Nigel Hunt, 13 Cory Aporo, 14 Lance MacDonald, 15 Zar Lawrence.
Bench: 16 Ray Brown, 17 Arden David-Perrot, 18 Aiden Kuka, 19 Luke Braid, 20 Kelly Haimona, 21 Paula Asaeli, 22 Teu Nafe.