"Nothing comes easy. Winning it once was hard, doing it again will be even harder. We're the No 1 team now and everyone will be coming to knock us off top spot."
Those are the words of Pikiao premier rugby league head coach Jason Parata who, after winning the Coastline/Bay of Plenty premier rugby league title at the first attempt, is already working on how to do it again in 2018.
At the start of the year, after 16 years of involvement with Pikiao rugby league, he was made head coach of the club's premier side. In August he was on the sidelines celebrating as his team scored in the dying seconds of the final against Pacific to be crowned Coastline/Bay of Plenty premier champions.
Trailing 8-6 and stuck in their own half, with seconds left to play, Pikiao looked resigned to second place. That is until they broke out of their own half, with seconds left on the clock, and Noel Te Rangi raced away to score the winning try.
"It was awesome. Before those last few plays I looked around and my daughter was crying, she had her hood over her head, people were saying time was up. I said: 'Anything can happen'. The ball just seemed to end up in the right people's hands at the right time, you could see it unfolding. Once Noel got the ball I don't think there was anyone who could've caught him," Parata said.
His goal at the beginning of the year was to "bring the whanau back".
"Winning is always great, but I think we have supporters now who will come and watch us whether we're winning or losing, as long as we're trying. We sort of lacked that for a wee bit. Our philosophy for the year was one team, one club.
"You want to coach the best and I wanted to know if i could do it. We've been involved with Pikiao since we moved back from Australia in 2000. I've coached reserves, I've coached school boys and I'd been the assistant coach a couple of times.
"No broken promises was a big thing, doing what we said we were going to do. I didn't make big, bold promises, but we did what we said we'd do for the boys. A lot of hard work by a lot of people went in to this season. There are a lot of people who want us to succeed," he said.
Parata said he knew the potential his side had after the first trial game of the season.
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"We were down 32-8 at halftime against Pacific and we lost 32-28, with a disallowed try on the hooter. It didn't feel like we had lost and it made us realise we can compete, because Pacific were really strong. We went away from our structures in the first half and that's where they got us."
Even during the season when Pikiao were on an extended winning streak, Parata was constantly seeking improvement, knowing there was further potential left to be unlocked.
Parata and his players are determined to do all they can to win back-to-back titles, starting with a training camp in January.
"We've always been a team everyone wants to beat, but now it's even more. It's up to the boys more than me, they have to really want it. They have to put in the hard work, but the future is really bright," he said.
He continued to learn more about coaching as assistant coach of the Bay of Plenty rugby league side which won the New Zealand Rugby League Championship division this year.
"It was good to meet boys from other clubs and bond with some of them, get different perspectives on the game and help players with that progression from club to representing their region and some went on to make national sides.
"To win the championship was huge for the Bay and for the Pikiao boys involved it was another surreal moment when we beat Otago here."