League: Pacific Sharks make statement with Bay of Plenty Nines win

Pacific Shark's Jeremy Siulepa makes a typically rampaging run against Taupō Phoenix in the Bay of Plenty Nines final. Photo / Ben Fraser

Trusting each other in defence and controlling the game were the cornerstones of Pacific Sharks' Bay of Plenty Nines win, an early statement in the Bay of Plenty League season.

The Sharks beat Taupō Phoenix 20-6 in the final at Puketawhero Park on Saturday to lift the Peter McLeod Cup - named in memory of the late Peter McLeod - a man who played integral roles in both the creation of the Auckland Warriors and the success of Rotorua International Stadium.

The results suggest Pacific may be in for a strong season, especially considering their reserve side won their division as well, beating Central 15-4 in the final.

Pacific coach for the day Neville Takiri says his side overcame a slow start to finish the one-day tournament strong.

"We started a bit slow but as players turned up we built really well throughout the day and gained trust in each other in our defence. Come the final, everyone was on a high, especially with the reserve grade boys having already won," Takiri said.

"In the final, we knew what we had to do. That trust in defence is very important, if everyone trusts each other you don't overplay your hand. You trust the people on the inside and outside of you are going to do their job. In defence we held off a bit and kind of guided them into where we wanted them to run, I think we did control the game quite well - we weren't rushed off our feet.

"We knew we could attack, our attack comes naturally, so we knew if we could force mistakes while we were on defence the points would come at the other end."

Pacific Sharks beat Taupō Phoenix to claim the Peter McLeod Cup at the Bay of Plenty Nines. Photo / Ben Fraser

Pacific started the day with a win over Pikiao, before losing to Ngongotahā in the last second of the game. They beat Mangakino in their third round robin match to go through to the final against Taupō on points difference.

In previous years Bay of Plenty and Coastline have combined for a premier rugby league competition, but this year there has been a shake up with the Coastline clubs opting to join the Waikato league instead.

Takiri says his team are disappointed about the decision, but they can only play what is in front of them.

"It was a good start to the season, a positive start, especially after hearing the competition is going to go with those teams going to Waikato. Our pre-season has been going really good, we were getting about 50 players to training, but when we heard about the competition it died down to 30 or 40 players.

"We've said to the boys we can only worry about what we can control, so let's focus on ourselves for this season."

Pacific have some extra motivation this year as they celebrate their 50th anniversary.

"That's a big driving factor for us, a big incentive for our club to have a big year."

With pre-season done and dusted, the Bay of Plenty Rugby league competition starts this weekend. Pacific will host Pikiao, Ngongotahā host Taupō and Mangakino have the bye.