Raroa hat trick spells doom for the Chiefs

A hat-trick of tries to Pikiao Warriors hooker BJ Raroa - has helped to secure an opening season 34-20 win over a determined Ngongotaha Chiefs side.

Warriors coach Selwyn Rikiti put his side's Bay of Plenty district rugby league competition win down to experienced players like Raroa and his captain Jason Kameta who came out of retirement after an exodus of last season's players who have moved to Australia.

"We did it the tough way, it's just a reflection of our really poor or below par pre-season. Our off season has been poor, the attendances have been down and trying to get them motivated has been a tough old job. I think a lot of the clubs have found that."

Despite having near perfect conditions at Puketawhero Park at the weekend, Rikiti said his side was typically rusty for the first game of the season.

"[The team's] conditioning was poor and it was a below par performance. But there were two points up for grabs and we grabbed them the tough way. We were rusty and our timing wasn't the best."

However, Rikiti said there were a number of positives from the game. "In that side that we had out there we had seven new guys and three of them were from rugby and the young guys were a real positive for me. They adapted quite well.

"Given that there were only three who played in last year's semifinal - this is where our level has dropped.

"But the positive was the new players like Connor Hohepa, Riki Collier, Te Kahu Huata and Manaaki O'Brien, performed well for their first outing in the new Pikiao jerseys."

Rikiti said Ngongotaha also struggled to field a team through injuries and availability but they managed to push his side at times. "They still put up a good game, in the first half it was only 12-4 to us. It was a very close game.

"They accredited themselves quite well given that a lot of their regular players were out. They still had a strong forward pack that were a lot bigger than we were."

Rikiti said his side take on the Central Lions next week who are looking strong this season.

"What we've got to build on is we have to get our discipline right, we fell down there and were penalised heavily."