Sometimes companies ran wiring conduit where the foam is going, to make wiring easier.
After having a pole for a month or two now, I'm glad I got the plate. When drifting along at a good clip, and suddenly deploying the pole, it puts a ton of stress on the plate. And the way the plate is designed, it flexes and absorbs all that stress. To me, having it mounted solidly to the transom, bad things might happen, at least with a glass hull. Not sure what you have though.