I'm a pretty optimistic sports fan, I tend to give the teams I follow every opportunity to prove they can be successful.
For example; it has taken me 22 (out of 25) rounds of the NRL and a 42-6 hammering at the hands of the Roosters to finally give up on the Warriors this season. Many fell off the wagon a lot earlier.
So, my optimism around this year's Bay of Plenty Steamers squad must be taken with a grain of salt but boy, they look good.
In their two Mitre 10 Cup Championship games so far they have produced emphatic bonus point wins over Otago and Waikato. In those games combined they have scored 90 points and conceded 21.
Otago played in the Championship final last year and the match against Waikato was a Premiership crossover - theoretically they are ranked a whole tier higher than Bay of Plenty. They are far from weak opponents.