They'd come prepared for four hours of tense bickering and the sort of organisation you get from dropping six ferrets into a burrow of bunnies; what they got was a professional, lucid explanation of the state of the union's finances, of policy and goals.

It just wasn't fair. Even the bustling media scrum - all of yours truly - drew sympathy for having sod-all to write about ... not that I cared when the waft of the post-match savouries spilled out of Te Puke Sports' kitchen.

It wasn't like the delegates weren't warned though - unless they'd had their heads buried in a boiling mud pool for the last eight months, they'd have noticed Cameron and his board are men of action. Heck, he even said it himself. ``This is not a board that gets into talk-fests - we're guys who like to get into action, ticking things off and moving forward,'' he announced at the meeting as digression threatened to take over.

Cameron also showed his political nous, penning a letter to the delegates a week out politely suggesting they refrain from putting up any alternatives to the existing board members come election time.

Fair enough too - turning an $845,000 loss into a $190,000 union profit in the space of a year isn't chicken-feed, and maybe they earned the right of re-election.

What the new board hasn't earned yet - along with so many predecessors - is the full trust of the clubs. They stare at each other across an abyss, amateur intent on one side, commercial reality on the other.

What the clubs want is simple - they want good competitions, strong crowds and above all, healthy bar-takings. They want their destiny in their own hands and they want their best players to be recognised further up the chain.

The board wants to promote a product - in this case, the Steamers team, which takes 40 per cent of the union's expenditure - so they can afford to run rugby in the province.

This new board also wants to promote strong leadership. In Bruce Cameron, they have that, and when only 16 clubs out of 36 turn up for an AGM, it's exactly what the union needs.

The danger is that power corrupts, as the saying goes, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Too many one-sided battles makes a warrior soft. The clubs need to stand strong, with voice clear, all 36 of them and assorted other delegates.

Likewise, the board must reach out across that abyss, simultaneously hauling the grassroots game up by the collar while patting it encouragingly on the back.

They could start by appointing a Steamers coach this week of the people, by the people and for the people - someone dripping with Bay values who can grow with his team, equipped with the tools to learn.