The Bay's big time ambitions in play

Bay of Plenty can use two strong blocks of work as foundations for a decent crack at the Lions in Rotorua on Saturday night.

They made the semifinals of last year's NPC with a string of impressive performances, but perhaps more significantly, a large chunk of the 22 to be named tomorrow were in the Chiefs Super 12 team, who ended their campaign 2 1/2 weeks ago with a rollicking final month as they surged up to finish sixth.

Preparation time is limited, but according to classy 26-year-old halfback Kevin Senio, it has taken exactly one training run for the old vibes to return.

"The evidence of that was this morning, the first time we'd trained as a backline, and with the forwards," he said last night. "There was a bit of bounce in the step from the boys. You know, there's no real motivation or extra rev up needed. It speaks for itself. It's a pretty special occasion.

"Watching and talking with the other Chiefs boys, we feel really confident - and happy with the way the boys who haven't been involved with the Chiefs have come through. That's the good thing, and it's all down to the snowball effect from the momentum built up last year."

It is conceivable nine Chiefs could be named by coach Vern Cotter tomorrow, including six in the pack.

The Lions will have watched tapes of the Bay and the Chiefs, but anyone looking for in-depth analysis on the Lions would be wasting their time pinning Senio in a corner.

It's not that he's uninterested, he just hasn't had much time to dwell on that before this week. His wife, Anna, was named in the Silver Ferns last week for the one-off netball test against Australia next month. She is goal attack for the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic, who are through to next week's National Bank Cup final.

Busy times in the Senio household then, not to mention keeping an eye on three-year-old Grace?

"Every Sunday night we're checking timetables, seeing who's got training and if they clash," he said. "That's been going on for the last three years. But I'm just absolutely proud of her, and pretty excited."

Senio will mark Wales' star halfback Dwayne Peel, the early tip for the test job. He doesn't know much about him, but says: "I'm sure they're quality players, we'll have a lot of respect for them, but we'll just try and do our own thing.

"I'm sure they'll be a bit unfamiliar with the way we play and we'll have a few tricks up our sleeve."

Last year the whisper was Senio was in the frame for the All Blacks end-of-year tour of Italy, Wales and France, but a broken ankle mid-NPC put paid to that. "Justin Marshall is going to leave a legacy as one of the great All Blacks. It's an opportunity for other halfbacks and obviously Byron Kelleher is the next one coming through. But it's definitely an ambition of mine to pull on the black jersey."

The Bay train twice in Tauranga today and finally on Thursday.