It was time to introduce a member of my family into THE FAMILY. Young BabyPie had reached an age where she needed to know real FAMILY values so I took her to the magnificent WBF Stadium (otherwise known as Luigi’s) to meet the Don and his henchmen (and women). After an obscure initiation ceremony which included some mumbled words from the Don (something about birthright and 1976) she was given the formal attire of the FAMILY and accepted by the group. Bizarrely for a supposedly secret society, her photo was then taken for a newspaper.

We settled down to watch the mighty Western Bay Finance Bay of Plenty Steamers (and full credit for the ground announcer for saying that every time) defeat the Naki and move closer to Xanadu/Nirvana or any other destination which is a good place. That destination is of course 9^th place or higher in NPC Division 1, and given Northland’s current form, we might have already secured enough points. Given that we are fifth on the table, and with an easy game to come in the capital (even Harbour can win there) there is a chance to (whisper this please) get into the top 4. Even if just for a week, wouldn’t it be good to sit up there looking down.

With Southland also hitting form, the 2 traditional cellar dwellers may yet meet in the final later in the year. In Tauranga of course. Sorry, getting a bit carried away now, so back to the Naki game. We did concede a lot of possession to the Naki but for large portions of the game they didn’t do much with it and we would often get a breakout when pinned down in defence. The whole pack was superb, especially with Latu going off in the first half and Ormond going to open-side, the 3 remaining loosies roamed around causing havoc, capped off by McMillan’s try from a great Ormond run and fend on the ginger one. Jackson had one of his better games, showing that he can be an elusive runner and distributor. Without Bunting, Rasmussen showed up well except for the dreaded non-fumble. He didn’t touch the ball with his hand but it certainly looked like he did. Kaui also showed some nice touches and he generally makes good decisions, pretty crucial for a full-back.

This habit of strong second half performances by the Bay is certainly making them more pleasant to watch. The try to Urwin was the first they have conceded in a second half (including away games against Canterbury and Otago) and the Bay show no signs of tiring late in the game, if anything they finish more strongly than their opponents. But what has particularly impressed me this season has been their “scrambling” defence. No better example than against Canterbury when their bald winger (don’t ask me to spell his name) blew a certain try by running straight into Stewart, but we had large numbers of players back for the ensuing ruck and if I remember correctly, we came up with the ball. I still have nightmares about the Wellington came last season where there were always 7 attackers and just our full-back trying to tackle them all.

Go the Bay,
KiwiPie