Sideline Sid Sports correspondant & historian www.sunlive.co.nz

Sideline Sid's club rugby season kicked off last Saturday, when he journeyed to Maramatanga Park to watch Te Puna take on archrivals Rangataua in the first of two annual Bay-wide battles.

The two clubs are among the oldest in the Western Bay, with Rangataua celebrated their centenary, while Te Puna has their own 100 years celebration to come in a couple of season's time. Rangataua pre-dates the formation of the Tauranga Rugby Union in 1915, with rugby arranged on a semi-formal basis beforehand.

If there was any doubt that rugby is in our country's DNA, it's dispelled when one gets around senior club rugby in our district. Other Western Bay sports in the region have solid junior and senior player bases, but it's only rugby that attracts generations of former players and their families to games weekly. The large crowd at Maramatanga Park was mirrored at Blake Park, where the Mount squared off against Tauranga Sports; and there were similar turnouts at Centennial Park, and Murray Salt Stadium in Te Puke.

There was plenty of good-natured banter between former Te Puna and Rangataua players on the Te Puna club deck and down the sideline. When the match speeches were completed, the tales would've been like the proverbial fish stories – getting bigger and bigger as the night wore on. This is grassroots rugby at its best, where generations of family members play for just one club, starting with junior rugby before taking the pathway to play for the senior first XV. While occasionally a few will jump ship and play for another local club, they almost always return to their roots later in life.

Part of the fabric of local club rugby is the trophies that are contested during the years, with many dating back decades. Proudly sitting on the sideline at the Maramatanga Park on Saturday was the Jordan Cup, which has morphed into the Western Bay Sub-Union premier challenge trophy. The Jordan Cup was presented in 1925 and remembers Mr JH Jordan, who was a long- serving Tauranga Rugby Union chairman. The Jordan is typical of its time, being a large ornate trophy made of near solid silver, which is probably worth several thousand dollars.

The Western Bay Sub-Union has several other long-term trophies still utilised to reward excellence in local club rugby. The Oliver Cup was also first presented in the mid 1920s, in honour of Charlie Oliver, who was also a chairman of the union and long-time Bay of Plenty Rugby delegate. Among the other long-time trophies still on the sub-union books are the Richard Phelan and Gilbey Cup's and the Hardy Rosebowl.

In today's politically correct world there is one sub-union prize that lays unwanted. The Dankin Shield was presented for competition between Tauranga Maori and Pakeha representative sides, but sits gathering dust since last contested in 1970.

For the record, Rangataua won the battle of attrition against Te Puna 23-16, which means Rangataua will put the Jordan Cup on the line against Te Puke Sports at Te Ariki Park this Saturday.