Bay of Plenty Steamers' Kaleb Trask during a Mitre 10 Cup match against Canterbury at Tauranga Domain last season. Photo / Andrew Warner
Bay of Plenty Steamers' Kaleb Trask during a Mitre 10 Cup match against Canterbury at Tauranga Domain last season. Photo / Andrew Warner
Bay of Plenty Steamers have an even home and away split for their 2019 Mitre 10 Cup campaign and welcome changes to this year's competition, but with no easy games they need to go into each game aiming to win.
The competition that showcases provincial pride, opens on August 8.
Bay of Plenty's 10-game schedule was released this week with an even home and away split for the Steamers, including three games at Tauranga Domain and two at Rotorua International Stadium.
Their season begins against Ranfurly Shield holders Otago at Tauranga Domain, although the Log 'o Wood will not be on the line.
Bay of Plenty Steamers coach Clayton McMillan believes his team has a fair draw for the Mitre 10 Cup and has welcomed the season being extended to 10 weeks this year, eliminating Wednesday fixtures and the need to play two games in one of the rounds.
The Steamers' shortest turnaround will be in the final week, when they get just a five-day rest before their biggest trip – playing Southland in Invercargill.
McMillan says shedding the double-game rounds is a relief, with all but the Southland fixture being played on Saturdays or Sundays.
Bay of Plenty Steamers coach Clayton McMillan says shedding the double-game rounds this Mitre 10 Cup season is a relief. Photo / File
"Our draw looks fair and our games are pretty evenly spaced. We have the expectation that our season will not be hanging on that final game," McMillan says.
Last year, the Steamers had two wins each side of a six-game losing streak. They would finish fifth on the championship ladder, three points adrift of the semifinals.
"There is a bit of consistency across most teams, but what you have one year might not encounter the next year. There are no easy games in this competition. You just approach it to win them all," he says.
The Steamers draw last year had them play three premiership crossover games first up and they picked up wins against Counties Manukau and Taranaki and put up a good showing in defeat to eventual champions Canterbury.
A painful 80th minute loss mid-season to rivals Hawke's Bay could have been the difference and McMillan said the loss was a thorn in their side.
"The battle of the Bays is something we are really proud and up until then we had been tracking pretty well. We probably deserved more reward against Canterbury and we invested a huge amount of energy in those championship games. From a win-loss perspective it wasn't that great, but we know we were close."
While rivalries are good, McMillan says it is important to stay focused.
"It is a competition where it is a sprint race and you don't get a lot of time to dwell on results. The games in front of you is another step in the process."
A few more bonus points wouldn't go amiss either, the Bay only scored five last year.
The Bay of Plenty Rugby Union has dropped bonus points from club competitions this year, with the theory that winning games, rather than bonus points, was preferable in gaining table position.
"I am a bit of a traditionalist," McMillan says. "There are so many variables, but I am not in favour of getting points for losing. If you score four tries that will contribute to winning. If you play somewhere where it is fine all the time or under a roof, that is conducive to more tries being scored. But I would be a hypocrite if I didn't acknowledge that bonus points had helped us on the ladder over the years."
Bay of Plenty Steamers 2019 schedule: August 11: v Otago, Tauranga August 18: v Waikato, Rotorua August 24: v Auckland, Auckland September 1: v North Harbour, Albany September 7: v Wellington, Rotorua September 14: v Taranaki, New Plymouth September 22: v Northland, Whangarei September 28: v Hawke's Bay, Tauranga October 5: v Manawatu, Tauranga October 10: v Southland, Invercargill
