Last year's campaign spluttered to a inglorious ending - Jamie Troughton looks at how the Steamers are shaping up for this season.

It's a scene Steamers coaches are determined not to see again. Last year's provincial rugby finale at Baypark looked more like a casualty ward.  Players swathed in bandages lurched across the field, replacements replaced replacements and the referee dispensed smelling salts instead of yellow cards.

It reflected in the scoreline, with Taranaki overturning an 18-point deficit to win 30-24. Bay of Plenty's ranks were seemingly down to the last handful of fit players in the entire province, a promising start to the season washed away in an injury deluge.

Coaches Sean Horan and Steve Miln came away adamant that situation couldn't happen again - and now they've unveiled their answer.

Still a month away from naming their first squad of the year, the pair have another big headache looming but this time it will be who won't make the initial cut. Last week's signings of locks Daniel Quate and Luke Andrews completed a busy off-season of restocking for the Steamers, with Horan adamant it needed to happen to compete in the ITM Cup.

"Once you lose quality players, you need to start replacing them with quality players and that's where the stronger unions outweigh us," Horan said. "We're starting to develop some strong, quality depth which has been our key focus since the end of last season."

Included in the new signings are All Black wing Lelia Masaga, Highlanders centre Brett Mather, Hawke's Bay and North Otago first-five Dan Waenga and Tasman front-rowers Dan Perrin and Tristan Moran.

A record 11 Bay of Plenty players saw action with the Chiefs during the Super 14, while Perrin was drafted into the Crusaders as injury cover. It means the Bay could field an entire starting lineup of players with Super rugby experience - juggling positions a bit - with a couple of New Zealand sevens players to chuck into the mix. Adding to a clutch of players returning from overseas - like midfielders Grant McQuoid and Tajhon Mailata and potentially fullback Hayden Reid - and things are looking rosy indeed.

"We call it our pipeline, identifying who's going to be here, who's coming through, who's out there and who we'll have to recruit. "If you haven't got it, you may just have to go out and get it," Horan said. "It's not going to be a focus every year because it's unattainable. We want to get as many home-grown players as possible but that's a long-term goal."

Last year's weak positions of lock and prop have been patched. Masaga's arrival is a massive boost for the wings, while the midfield is positively overflowing and the loosies are among the best in the competition. Potentially, Colin Bourke, Solomon King, Luke Braid, Tanerau Latimer and freakishly talented New Zealand schoolboys graduate Sam Cane could all be contesting three spots each week. There's also Zach Hohneck who played his way into the cup side last year.

The concerns now are in the relatively untried contenders at first-five, while halfback is also thin behind Junior Poluleuligaga. At a rough count, Horan and Miln now have  about 40 players to boil down over the next four weeks. The pair were at Wednesday's sub union series match Central Bay and Eastern Bay in Rotorua. They'll name a squad of between 28-30 on June 23 after the BOP Wasps match with the Harlequins in Hamilton.

Horan accepts some quality players will miss out - but with 36 players used last year, he's adamant most of the contenders will get their chance. "A lot of players get disappointed when they miss out when the team's named but there are a lot of players who are only one injury away."
 
STEAMERS CONTENDERS
Outside backs: Toby Arnold, Jason Hona, Lelia Masaga, Ben Smith, Zar Lawrence
Midfielders: Brett Mather, Phil Burleigh, Grant McQuoid, Cory Aporo, Wayne Hughson, Zion Nordstrom, Tajhon Mailata
First-fives: Nick McCashin, Dan Waenga, Kelly Haimona
Halfbacks: Junior Poluleuligaga, Josh Hall, Chad Tuoro
Loosies: Colin Bourke, Luke Braid, Tanerau Latimer, Solomon King, Sam Cane, Zach Hohneck
Locks: Culum Retallick, Luke Andrews, Daniel Quate, Dan Goodwin, Luke Katene
Props: James McGougan, Tristan Moran, Joe Savage, Josh Hohneck, Ted Tauroa
Hookers: Dan Perrin, John Pareanga, Dean Elmiger.