It was touted as an upset - though it was tough to find anyone at Maramatanga Park particularly distressed by Te Puna's Baywide club rugby victory on Saturday.
Or even surprised. The 32-13 win over perennial Baywide contenders Whakarewarewa lifted the home side into the top-four and owes much to smart pre-season planning and some increasing wisdom in the pack.

Sporting one of the biggest grins was the bloke in Te Puna's No2 jersey, Heywood "The Happy Hooker" Kuka. The 29-year-old returned from a two-year stint playing league in Sydney in December to find his teammates had already been training for a month. With Steamers rake John Pareanga covering for the Chiefs and then injured, Kuka slotted straight back into a side dripping with experience.

"It's just old-school - there's a few of us who've been together for 10 or so years since we all played Colts and we're all a bit older and wiser now," the trainee teacher explained. "I missed home and I'd done my dash over there - it was time to come home and help out the boys."

Another trainee teacher, Kuka's cousin Aidan, was at the heart of Saturday's dominance, while the side is being coached by Vaughn Bidois, who has returned from teaching in Opotiki.

It's little wonder the lessons of the past few years - getting fitter faster and bringing some brains to their bristling play - have been heeded.

Te Puna's pack is its key weapon, boasting the Kuka cousins, stalwarts Dan Schuster and Shannon Borell and a vastly under-rated loose forward trio of Taimania Tata, Hori Leef and Caine Taiapa. Within half an hour on Saturday, Leef had crossed after a great break from centre Tajhon Mailata, Aidan Kuka had run in from 40m after finding himself in plenty of space and Tata weaved through some ineffectual Whakarewarewa tackling.

At 24-0, not even the second half tailwind - kicking up volcanic proportions of dust from the dry field - was going to save the visitors.

"We wanted to get into these guys straight away because we knew they're a confidence team as well," Kuka said.

Whakarewarewa have lost their mojo - their unshakable pride in the red and black jersey - and fell off tackles like autumn leaves. Second-five Doug Edwards looked sharp and fullback Barney Te Kani scored all their points with two tries and a penalty but they never looked like winning after Te Puna's fast start.

For the home side, Mailata has returned after two seasons away looking trim and motivated. He has effortless ball skills which complement the hard graft of second-five Pomare Pearson superbly. It's a bit rich to start nominating Te Puna as Baywide contenders, but after four rounds, they're sitting fourth with six bonus points. It's a good start.