Hamilton Hornets arrived in Tauranga an hour late and probably wished they'd stayed at home after copping a 60-10 thrashing from the Otumoetai Eels in the opening round of the rejigged Waicoa Bays club premiership at Mitchell Park on Saturday.
The Hornets' bus broke down on the trip over, and by the time their players trudged from the Eels' home ground a couple of hours later their spirits were in a similar shape as Otumoetai, who were far from perfect themselves, cantered in for 12 tries, six in each half.
To be fair to the sting-less Hornets, arriving with just one player for the interchange bench can't have been much fun, and they soon had only the bare minimum when injury struck.
When Fitu Sili was binned late in the second half for an ugly swinging arm, Waikato's worst team, who were equal last in the Waicoa Bays premiership a year ago, were forced to battle on with less than the bare minimum, with their frustration boiling over in several acts of thuggery.
Eels wing Ryan Gordon was in stunning form, bagging five tries, the first after just three minutes and three more added to the tally before halftime.
The 24-year-old has struck up a magical combination with half Josh Weeden, with the former Canberra Raiders-contracted player laying on Gordon's third try when an attempted 40/20 kicked infield into the flying winger's hands.
His fifth and final touchdown midway through the second half also had Weeden's handiwork all over it as a precision crossfield bomb was pocketed by a leaping Gordon.
Weeden also crossed in a spectacular long-range effort, running 55m after Trent Scobie broke the Hornets' defensive line and flicked a clever offload.
In between the Eels were ordinary for the most part, pushing passes that continually went to ground and on the wrong end of a big penalty count, with Gordon agreeing they'll have to be a lot sharper when they come up against Waikato's top sides, starting this weekend against Ngaruawahia.
"There were a ton of penalties against us today and a lot of fifty-fifty balls thrown that you get away with against a side like today. But I suspect come Tuesday we'll go back to the drawing board because we were too loose and we know it.
"Playing a team like the Hamilton Tigers we'll have to step up our game a lot and lay the hard yards down," he said, admitting the delayed start to the game had also made it hard to get going.
Gordon's flirtation with rugby league started as a six-year-old in Auckland and, after 10 years with the Howick Hornets, he switched to rugby, playing last season on the wing and fullback for Katikati. He would have stayed with rugby if Katikati had been playing in the Baywide competition but decided to try his hand at league again, with the Eels' home ground just down the road from his home in Brookfield.
"Last year the travel out to Katikati for training and games was tough, although it was a last-minute decision to play league. I wandered down to training but decided if I couldn't crack the Eels' premier side I'd probably play rugby again."
There's not too much danger of that happening now, with Saturday Gordon's third game this season where he's scored three tries or more. He's a handy finisher and is enjoying getting his hands on the ball far more than he did last season.
"It's been a bit of an adjustment but more ball finds its way out onto the wing in league. I've scored a few but it's the other boys doing all the hard work."
The Eels lead Waicoa Bays' Blue pool, with Pikiao and Ngaruawahia Panthers the other winners on Saturday, Pikiao downing Tauranga Whalers 38-16 and Ngaruawahia beating Turangawaewae 24-10. In the Black Pool, Pacific beat Taupo 22-0 and Hukanui lost at home 30-14 to Taniwharau.