With just six wins in three years it's fair to say the Bay of Plenty Steamers have had a horror run of late.

But if there is anyone who can right the ship it could be one of its own, a former Steamers captain and centurion.

Bay of Plenty Steamers coach Clayton McMillan has been keeping a close eye on this year's Bayfair Baywide Club Competition. Photo by Bruce Barnard.

Less than two months out from the side's first ITM cup fixture, SunLive spoke with Steamers coach Clayton McMillan on how he's fitting into the role and the Bay rugby landscape.

After five years away, McMillan, a proud Bay man, will be sure to have his eyes on reinvigorating the struggling side in this year's ITM Cup campaign, taking over the reins from former coach Kevin Schuler.

A disastrous 2013 campaign left the side registering a single win – consigning them to the Championship Division in 2014, where they won two matches.

'There is some big challenges ahead but that's what makes it exciting,” says McMillan.

'I might have been away for the last four or five years but I've always kept a pretty good handle on what's been happening here. Home is always home and it's good to be back.”

A resilient No 8 in his time, McMillan played 113 games for the Steamers, scoring 22 tries, after making his debut in 1995.

He's since gone on to carve out an impressive early coaching career, leading Wellington club Marist St Pats to a Jubilee Cup win in 2012 and the Wellington Under-19 team to the 2014 National Under-19 title.

He's also been the Bay of Plenty development coach and a New Zealand Under-20 selector for three years.

Despite being his first foray into the ITM Cup coaching cauldron, it's McMillan's hardnosed approach that wouldn't go a miss in the playbook after slim pickings for fans in recent seasons.

While the rugby union is attempting to lure crowds back by hosting Waikato at the Tauranga Domain – its first match since 2009 – McMillan is wary of what a lopsided Bayfair Baywide Club Competition thus far could present less than two months out from the side's first ITM Cup fixture.

Seven weeks in and six of the top eight spots are occupied by Western Bay of Plenty sides, while Eastern Bay's Rotoiti and Whakarewarewa sit in third and sixth.

Table-toppers Tauranga Sports and Te Puke Sports are yet to taste defeat, their most recent clashes seeing Tauranga dispatch Rangataua 62-19 and Te Puke win 65-12 over Paroa.

'Obviously there has been some fairly big blowouts, which isn't good for anybody.

'And certainly it's probably not ideal in getting players battle-hardened for ITM cup, but the flipside is we might get players that are a little bit fresher heading into our campaign,” says McMillan.

'So while it's not great for Bay of Plenty Rugby that we are seeing lopsided results there is potentially some benefits from a Steamers' perspective.”

McMillan will look to the likes of Super Rugby players Culum Retallick and Johan Bardoul, and hooker Joe Royal to lead the forward pack while the young inside pairing of Jono Kitto and Dan Hollinshead could help unlock a backline yet to set alight the provincial competition.

Though it's further home-grown talent McMillan will be hoping can press on, helping bolster the province's rugby stocks and push the already contracted players for starting positions.

Next Wednesday the BOP Wasps team will play the Cavaliers in the first pre-season match at Katikati's Moore Park ahead of two ITM Cup pre-season matches against Auckland and Manawatu for the finalised squad.

The Steamers first match of the 2015 ITM Cup season is versus North Harbour at ASB Baypark on August 14.