The Bay of Plenty Volcanix go into week three of the Farah Palmer Cup hoping to land a major result to boost their playoff chances.
The Volcanix have lost to Counties-Manukau and Wellington in the first two rounds of their season campaign but have earned three bonus points and are just two points outside the top four.
This weekend the Volcanix play Auckland Storm at Whakatāne's Rugby Park on Saturday - a team the Bay have not lost to in their past two meetings.
The Volcanix beat Auckland 34-29 last year and battled out a gritty 10-all draw in the rain in Whakatāne in 2017. Rain is forecast in the usually sunny Eastern Bay town tomorrow. But Volcanix coach Rodney Gibbs says previous results do not mean anything heading into this game and, after the 32-29 loss in Wellington last week, is happy with his team's improvement this season.
"We have had good preparation and had a really good run on Tuesday night. The girls were a bit disappointed after last weekend and that is good – everyone wants to be better. There was plenty of energy at training," Gibbs says.