Bay of Plenty Steamers New Zealand cup. Bay of Plenty would reach the quarter-finals losing to Auckland 45–14 at Eden Park. 2007 was a dreadful year for the Steamers winning only one match and finishing 13th. 2008 was a better year for the Steamers winning their first four matches and finishing 4th. They hosted the quarter finals where they lost to Southland 45–11 at Mt Maunganui. 2009 began like 2008 with the Steamers winning their first four matches. They would win against significant opposition including Wellington, Waikato and Canterbury, However disappointing losses to North Harbour, Otago and Taranaki would see the Steamers finish 7th.
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