Opinion: Huge year for Bay rugby

Callum Retallick fends off a tackle during the Bay of Plenty Steamers v Counties Manukau Mitre 10 Cup at Tauranga Domain. Photo/George Novak

The Bay of Plenty Steamers take on Wellington in the final of the Mitre 10 Cup Championship final at Westpac Stadium tonight, with a place in the top tier Premiership up for grabs.

The last time the Steamers reached such meteoric heights was back in 2000.

This season the team, ably coached by new Maori All Blacks mentor Clayton McMillan, has looked capable of reaching the final hurdle but it has taken three successive wins to achieve it.

The last two victories over Waikato and Otago at Tauranga Domain have shown what the Steamers are capable of and they will take on Wellington with a nothing-to-lose mentality.

Top team Wellington are hot favourites to win but the Lions have stumbled in home finals before.

The improvement in the Steamers this season has been replicated by other Bay of Plenty rep teams from the under-13 Roller Mills through to under-19 men, and the under-18 and Volcanix women's teams.

The Volcanix have had an unsurpassed season and host Otago in the Farah Palmer Cup Championship final at Blake Park from 12pm tomorrow.

The challenge for all the age group coaches and administrators in the Bay is to maintain this year's consistency.

That is never an easy task but Canterbury rugby is the blueprint for success. Their consistency over the years has been built from the grassroots level up.

It may surprise that Bay of Plenty is now the third largest rugby union in New Zealand in terms of playing numbers behind Auckland and Canterbury, with Wellington in fourth place.

With the game booming in the region, the need for a quality home stadium based in the Western Bay has never been greater and this is being looked into by various stakeholders.

It is heartening to see Bay of Plenty rugby is clearly on the right path, no matter what happens in Wellington tonight.