The good word leading up to Te Puke Sports' game against Greerton Marist on Saturday was spoken about a changing of the guard.
Upstart Marist had won five on the trot, while the two-time defending champs were slowing down after two straight loses.
The feeling was the Te Puke side would lose, fall out of the top four and see Marist sit untouchable in outright second place.
I guess that is why they play the games.
The home side proved that rumours of their demise have been very much exaggerated, by running out comfortable 39-17 winners courtesy of a five-tries-to-three romp and near faultless goal kicking at Murray Salt Stadium.
In the end, the scoreline perhaps flattered the visitors, who were far too inaccurate in a number of facets to compete with their clinical hosts.
Their scrum was going backwards and lost possession a number of times, while the lineout and breakdown all came under huge pressure.
Marist looked good in patches and actually managed to match Sports in scoring three first half tries, but still went into oranges down 27-17 due to the faultless kicking of Simon Rolleston, and the speed with which their opposites were turning over possession.
They were dangerous with ball in hand, given the number of large ball runners in their arsenal, but missed new Highlanders winger Tino Nemani for that added bit of punch.
The second half was more of the same - Sports working the corners and grinding down their opposition, who were unable to find a way through a tight wall of defence.
Stand-out former New Zealand under-20s player, Nathan Harris, barged through the line to dot one down from 20 metres out in the closing stages, putting an exclamation mark on a solid all-round performance that keeps the champs well and truly in the hunt as the competition's halfway point nears.
Sports coach Craig Jeffries cut a happy figure after his side's resounding win.
"We've done a lot of work at the scrum and the breakdown area - that was our own work-on for the week," said Jeffries.
"There was improvement there - which was good. The plan is to head down into the camping ground at their end - it's pretty simple."
He was pleased with a flourishing backline that finally seems to be clicking into gear.
"It's always been there, but it's about quick ball, and clean ball. When you get that it's so much easier. It was definitely a step in the right direction."
The rest of the round offered up plenty of action.
The Tauranga Sports machine kept rolling with a 42-24 win over Rotoiti, yet the competition leaders allowed an opponent to score more than 20 points for just the second time this season.
The bonus point victory puts them head and shoulders above any other team on the ladder, with a 12 point gap back to Te Puke Sports in second place - an accurate reflection of how the two teams have gone so far this season.
Mount Maunganui reverted to their early season form in losing another heart-breaker by a single point, this time 23-22 to Whakarewarewa.
The Mount have now lost matches to Te Puna, Rotoiti, Tauranga Sports and Whakarewarewa by one point, and another to Marist by six points, to claim five bonus points for close loses in eight rounds.
Rangataua won their first game of the year - 35-22 over Paroa - in what might prove to be one of the biggest matches played this season.
Paroa have had the jump on Rangataua since the opening fortnight of the competition, but that came to an end on Saturday.
The form Paroa showed in knocking over Marist in round two has gone largely missing since, with Rangataua - though winless - picking up valuable bonus points almost weekly in a campaign to lift themselves off the bottom of the table.
That campaign is now complete, with the bonus point victory of more than seven points meaning that Rangataua now lie in ninth, four points clear of Paroa in 10th.
Opotiki put Te Puna to the sword 52-24 in a match that tags the winners of three straight as a team to watch.
Wins against Paroa, Te Puke Sports and Te Puna in successive weeks have put Opotiki into fifth place on the ladder, with a big one against Greerton Marist shaping as an interesting contest in week nine.
Week eight proved an interesting one in division one with a pair of surprising results further complicating matters.
Whakatane Marist were the big winners in pulling off a 26-19 upset at home against a previously unbeaten Rangiuru side. Due to other results going their way, the win puts Marist in fifth place on the ladder - just three points outside the top four.
Poroporo was another to capitalise on Rangiuru's misfortune by beating Katikati 34-29, meaning they sit just behind Rangiuru in second place.
Kahukura dominated Ruatoki 32-14 to improve their foothold in the top four, while Waikite moved to the middle of the table with their 24-12 victory over Marist St Michael's.
Te Teko were the other big winners in hammering Ngongotaha 51-17. The result leaves the winning side with a three win, five loss record with a negligible points differential.
Bay of Plenty rugby results, May 11:
Premier:
Tauranga Sports 42 (Josh Hall, Gareth Brown, Nic Thomson, Jeff Thwaites, Keepa Mewett, Nic Evemy tries; Geoff Berry 2 pens, con; Paul Morris 2 cons) beat Rotoiti 24 (penalty try, Jesse Acton, Nicky Nepia tries; Tyson Ripia 3 cons, pen) HT 15-17.
Whakarewarewa 23 (Chris Miller, Chanse Perham, James O'Neill tries; Bauro Kairaoi pen, con, John Ririnui pen) beat Mount Maunganui 22 (Chad Jacob, Kaleb Oates, Matt Axtens tries; Sam Beard 2 cons, pen) HT 20-8.
Te Puke Sports 39 (Junior Tofa Va'a 2, Nathan Harris, Dan Goodwin, Gideon Uelese tries; Simon Rolleston 4 cons, 2 pens) beat Greerton Marist 17 (Matt Ropoama, Joe Key, Joe Tupe tries; Alex Jessop con) HT 27-17.
Rangataua 35 (Matt Clutterbuck, Ezra Johnstone, Ross Taurima, Nathaniel Walker tries; Shane Ririnui 3 pens, 3 cons) beat Paroa 22 (Kevin Waterson, George Harawira, Patrick Hudson tries; McKenzie McGougan 2 cons, pen) HT 27-8.
Opotiki 52 (Te Hata Wilbore 2, Matt Hewood, P. Angel, Dean Elmiger tries; Te Amo Wilbore 4 cons, 3 pens) beat Te Puna 24 (Aaron Ririnui, Tapene Mika, Aiden Kuka tries; Te Aihe Toma 3 cons, pen) HT 28-3.
Points table: Tauranga Sports 39, Te Puke Sports 27, Greerton Marist 25, Whakarewarewa 24, Opotiki 21, Te Puna 20, Mount Maunganui 18, Rotoiti 13, Rangataua 9, Paroa 5.
Division one:
Poroporo 34 Katikati 29, Kahukura 32 Ruatoki 14, Te Teko 51 Ngongotaha 17, Whakatane Marist 26 Rangiuru 19, Waikite 24 Marist St Michaels 12.