'Leave nothing in the tank' Te Puna rugby supporters celebrate

Te Puna's Kaydin Budd celebrates with his team. Photo/Andrew Warner.

Blue and black balloons are tied to the Wairoa Bridge and lead the way to Te Puna's Maramatanga Park and rugby stadium.

Signs with messages of support for the home team line the roadside leading to
Maramatanga Park.

It's Saturday - the day of the Baywide premier final between Te Puna and Tauranga Sports - and we're in Te Puna rugby territory.

Inside the gates, the car park is already full, and supporters are lining the field dressed either in black and blue or blue and gold scarves, T-shirts, hats and face paint.

They are all here to witness Te Puna take on Tauranga Sports in the Farmlands Co-operative Baywide Men's Club Rugby final.

Among the crowd is 80-year-old Bill Smith wearing his honorary blazer and blue and gold painted eyebrows.

"My wife painted them on," he jokes.

Standing on the sideline of the Te Puna versus Tauranga Sports final, Smith reminisces about the time he played for the Tauranga Old Boys in 1962 against Te Puna.

Image 1 of 17: (l-r) Mason 2, Lisa, and Braxton McRobbie 4. Photo / Andrew Warner

"They beat us and won the championship. They'll never forget it," he says.

But Smith says this time is special because of Te Puna Rugby Club's 100th anniversary.

Reluctantly predicting Te Puna's win over Tauranga Sports before the game had even started, Smith says he has never seen Te Puna play so strong.

His prediction proved correct with Te Puna beating Tauranga Sports 23-10.

Te Puna supporter Albie Te Pairi, was proud to watch his son Poukohe Sorenson play in his first premier final. Photo/Andrew Warner.

He puts that down to Te Puna coach Aidan Kuka.

"He just has something magic about him," he says.

Although sporting blue and gold painted eyebrows, Smith has ties to both sides.

His son played for Te Puna before the family moved back into blue and gold colours.

Smith and his wife Lorraine have since been dubbed the honorary granddad and grandma of the Tauranga Sports team.

Te Puna v Tauranga Sports! Let's go!

Posted by Bay of Plenty Times on Friday, 19 July 2019

"We look after the players during the season and feed them meals," Mrs Smith says. "They look up to us as their grandparents."

Family ties were evident on the sidelines of the Te Puna and Tauranga Sports final.

Father of Te Puna's Poukohe Sorenson, Albie Te Pairi, was proud to be watching his son play in his first premier final.

"It is everything," he says. "To be here is just awesome."

Te Pairi says he couldn't sleep before the big game. "I must have woken up at 2am just thinking about how excited I was."

The proud father says his son was so focused in the week leading up to the game that he tried to resist using his cellphone.

But sneaking in a quick phone conversation before kick-off, Te Pairi's advice to his son was: "Leave nothing in the tank. Leave it all out there".