Upbeat Kitto senses steely resolve in Steamers side

The obvious lack of self-belief in the Steamers players during the past two turbulent seasons has been replaced with a conviction this year's team can achieve anything.

Only time will tell if halfback Jono Kitto is correct in his positive comments made this week ahead of tomorrow's key clash with Waikato at Tauranga Domain.

But in typical cheeky halfback fashion, he was talking up his team's chances even though he is sitting out the game as part of squad rotation vital in such a compact programme. "I know there won't be any need for extra motivation against Waikato on Sunday," Kitto said.

"There is no team we would like to beat more than them ... they call themselves 'the big brothers over the hill'. We will find out on Sunday who is the bigger brother I suppose.

"We are looking forward to it. We know it is going to be a challenge. They have a few threats around the park and speed and agility in places.

"But there is a lot more self-belief in the camp in this team than there was last year and so should there be.

"We are working really hard on putting on some great performances and we know when we do that we can beat any team on our day."

Kitto is into his second season with Bay of Plenty after moving from Christchurch. The former NZ Under-20 rep will take up a one-year deal with Leicester Tigers at the end of the ITM Cup.

He said he was appreciating a new steely resolve in the squad this campaign.

"Obviously two wins from three is a reasonable sort of start, although the camp is pretty disappointed with the fact we let the one go last week [against Tasman]. For 60 minutes, we were more than just in the game ...

"Even though we have come away with wins, we are not happy with just winning a game here and there. We actually want to beat the top Premier teams and top Championship teams and reach our potential in terms of being promoted. That is a great environment to be part of because there is a lot of honesty about how we are performing at the moment. The good and bad thing is we haven't even got close to reaching our ceiling yet ...

"I am excited to see how high we can go and how well we can play as a team."

Homegrown NZ Under-20 loosehead prop Aidan Ross will get his starting debut for the Steamers. His former Tauranga Boys' 1st XV teammate, Dan Hollinshead, will start at second-five with Papa Wharewera at halfback.

Sam Cane rejoins the All Blacks after his outstanding game against Southland and Nathan Harris continues his quest to regain his black jersey with another start in the hooker's jersey.