THEY slumped over the changing room floor, too exhausted to raise battle-weary arms in jubilation.
Yet jubilant they were - the Bay of Plenty rugby team had made the NPC first division semifinals for the first time since semis were introduced in 1992.
Yesterday's gritty 14-9 win over North Harbour in Albany was the perfect climax to a fairytale season.
The Western Bay Finance Steamers finished third on the table and the reward is a semifinal clash with Canterbury in Christchurch on Saturday night.
After yesterday's game the physically shattered players sat quietly nursing all manner of scrapes and bruises, the results of a superb second-half defensive effort in the face of a strong wind and a desperate Harbour side.
Someone obviously forgot to tell the Bay of Plenty side they were once again serious underdogs against a side boasting three All Blacks and a host of Super 12 players.
``I've never seen them just sitting on the ground, absolutely exhausted,'' coach Vern Cotter said. ``That's what this rugby's about. The guys are all sitting in there with marks from one end of their body to another where they threw themselves in.'' ``There was no way they were going to let North Harbour score. That's the sort of commitment you need and the sort of commitment they've shown all year.
``I'm extremely proud.'' Delighted captain Wayne Ormond said it was only natural the rewards should follow after such a fantastic season. ``When you win, it opens a lot of doors. Deep down I hope there is something else after this for the guys. They've really proved themselves over the last year and a half. We've got a huge occasion next week and the boys have got to get up for it.''
Saturday's semifinal could also help Bay of Plenty exact some revenge on Canterbury, who ended their brief but spectacular Ranfurly Shield tenure last month.
Bay of Plenty Rugby Union chief executive Paul Abbot was frantically trying to get hold of his Canterbury equivalent Hamish Riach last night, asking whether his union would be putting the Shield back on the line. ``It would do wonders for the crowd.''
Bay of Plenty last won the NPC title in 1976.

VERN Cotter has landed a fitting reward for an outstanding coaching display with Bay of Plenty this season.
It's a season that has bounded into the realms of brilliance following yesterday's dramatic 14-9 win over North Harbour in Albany and the rewards are beginning to come.
Cotter has been offered an assistant coaching job with the Crusaders for next year's Super 12, working alongside former All Black coach Robbie Deans.
It is understood he was offered the position late last week and accepted over the weekend and that current assistant Don Hayes' contract was terminated.
It follows hard on the heels of Steamers assistant coach Joe Schmidt's appointment to a similar role with the Blues and precedes a Super 12 squad announcement expected to include a large number of Bay of Plenty players.
Cotter wouldn't comment, waiting for the Crusaders to announce the appointment either today or tomorrow, but confirmed he'd been down for an interview in Christchurch last week.
Yesterday he watched with unmistakable pride as his side booked him another trip to the South Island city for Saturday's semifinal against Canterbury.
The emphasis for the team this week, he said, would be on keeping their high standards.
``They've worked extremely hard to get there and they worked extremely hard today,'' Cotter said.
``They've got to really enjoy the occasion. They're going to play a semifinal of the NPC first division which we've never done before.
``It's going to be great for them when they run out on to Jade Stadium in the semifinal.''
Now 28 years after Bay of Plenty's only NPC win - in the first year of the competition - they are two matches away from repeating the effort, although the odds are firmly stacked against them.
Amazingly, Bay of Plenty is the only non-Super 12 franchise-based union to make the playoffs after Taranaki fell to Waikato and they dumped out North Harbour.
Wellington will host Waikato in the first semifinal on Friday night.
Canterbury will also field a side overflowing with All Blacks and boosted by the return of halfback Justin Marshall.
But Bay of Plenty were never favoured to win yesterday either - that they did was a tribute to an extraordinary defensive effort which stopped Harbour crossing their line.
Harbour could only manage three penalties to rising first-five Luke McAlister, while his opposite Glen Jackson, playing his 50th game for the union, scored a try late in the first spell and nailed two conversions.
For the umpteenth time this season, Bay of Plenty struggled with a first-half wind to lead only 7-6 but tore into their work in the second half, despite conceding an early penalty to trail 9-7.
The forwards, boosted by super subs Paul Tupai and Taufa'ao Filise, got straight into their work and drove mercilessly and tackled tenaciously.
When a series of drives from a lineout got them to within 10m of the line after 56 minutes, a sniping blindside dart from halfback Charles Hubbard opened the smallest of gaps and wing Anthony Tahana bolted through to score near the posts.
Harbour had endless opportunities to score, constantly trying to rumble their rolling maul through the middle of a the Bay pack which wouldn't buckle.
With their backline stymied by a wet and greasy ball, Harbour regressed to frantic, disorganised attack in the final stages and captain Joe Ward conceded the Bay's rugged close-in defence had left them no option.
Ward believed that sort of commitment could stand Bay of Plenty in good stead in Christchurch.
``If they can defend as they did today and put numbers in and around the ball ... they showed that defence can win them the game,'' Ward said.
``Maybe they're not the best attacking team but they've got great character.''
Steamers skipper Wayne Ormond was a colossus, with ample support from fellow loosies Colin Bourke and Nili Latu, while prop Ben Castle was superb making one withering 35m burst which tore the heart out of Harbour.