Bay of Plenty rugby league team Bay of Plenty rugby league team The Bay of Plenty rugby league team (also known as the Bay of Plenty Lakers) are a New Zealand rugby league team who represents the Bay of Plenty Rugby League in New Zealand Rugby League competitions. Between 1994 and 1996 they competed in the Lion Red Cup competition, while in 2008 and 2009 they competed in the Bartercard Premiership. The Lion Red Cup team was coached by Neil Joyce and Lawrence Brydon and collected two wooden spoon's, in 1994 and 1995. However, in 1996 they finished fifth, losing the elimination playoff. Notable players included
Bay of Plenty in the region struggled: the climate was ill-suited to sheep farming and the geography was inaccessible, further hindered by a lack of infrastructure. By the end of the century the population had started to dwindle. But after experimenting with different crops, settlers found success with dairy production. Dairy factories sprang up across the Bay of Plenty in the 1900s, with butter and cheese feeding economic prosperity throughout the early 20th century; local Māori continued to live on the fringe of this prosperity. Timber also became a major export in the 1950s, as kiwifruit did later. The present Bay of Plenty