'It was always going to be alright, we always had it under control.”

The unshakeable confidence of Mike Delaney - the man who probably made all the difference last Saturday as he helped the Bay of Plenty Steamers consign the cow bells to the ignominy of the championship after 30 years in the top tier. The man whose boot kicked the Steamers into the semis this weekend.

'I never felt too much pressure, I always felt like we would come away with a win in the second-half.”

Was he playing in he same game we were watching? Five tries apiece, seven points the difference at the oranges and just four at full-time.

'It's a team I like to play against and a team I like to win against. And it was just a case of us trusting our processes and doing what we do well. It was always alright.”

There's just a hint of smugness in hindsight from the man who himself has worn red, yellow and black, albeit for the Chiefs. ”I would not have been happy walking off with a loss.”

And when the faithful pour into Tauranga Domain for the playoff against Otago this Saturday afternoon, the same icy calm Delaney will step out and the same process will be in place.

'Cut back on the errors, build the pressure, be disciplined, make first up tackles, execute well and score good tries.” Delaney, the consummate pro, has already played the game in his head and now he and the Steamers just have to put it on the park.

'Win it? For sure!” His confidence is engaging and infectious.

And Delaney believes the Steamers are where they should be - a couple of glitches aside. 'We should have beaten Northland,” he says. They just may get a chance to put that right. 'We should have beaten Counties.” And let's blot out the Auckland debacle. 'It was one of those tough blocks of games with short turnarounds.”

And there's good trust amongst the group. 'We want to stay in there and fight to the end. There haven't been games where I thought we were out of it. There's good belief and excitement - we are maturing as a team, playing smarter and showing more ticker.”

This probably says something about the setup. Delaney was impressed with what he walked into after a couple of seasons with the Newcastle Falcons in England's north-east.

'It's definitely refreshing after the relentless English premiership – week in, week out for 11 months or whatever.” Taxing both mentally and physically.

'So it's awesome being back. I'm loving the environment – it's a great bunch of boys and a great coaching set up which allows us to play the game we want to play. It's a much freer brand after the structured style over there.”

Despite his six seasons overseas and vast experience at home, the former All Black says he's still learning at the Steamers. 'Clayton (coach Clayton McMillan), Gibby (assistant coach Rodney Gibbs) and Hilly (assistant coach David Hill) have done an excellent job getting us where we need to be each week.”

And he credits David Hill, a man Delaney has played with and against, for the attacking flair the team has been demonstrating this season. 'It's nice to have the backs scoring some tries and enjoying themselves.”

There may be a job to do tomorrow afternoon, but we can indulge and look beyond Otago. Wellington have dominated this season and Northland are hard on their day.

'We'll be happy to get through,” says the play maker. 'Anything can happen in finals footie and it will come down to who fires on the day.”

But right at this moment Clayton McMillan is 'chilled” and the Steamers are 'enjoying things and feeling good.”

The Bay of Plenty Steamers versus Otago in the semi-finals of the Mitre 10 Cup, is at Tauranga Doman at 2:35pm tomorrow.

Tickets are available at the ground on game day or via: www.boprugby.co.nz