Sport liftout
Diversity the winner in 2019
If All Blacks coach Ian Foster wants to understand mana, he need look no further than Maria Folau and Noeline Taurua.
The 2019 Misnomers have arrived with the usual amount of fanfare. No television cameras, no big sponsors’ contracts. I mean, what is it with the corporate world? Does it not understand glamour? Is Roxy Music just a meaningless verbal hybrid?
But the prizes of these prestigious gongs remain as big as ever. Cake and fine wine for any winner who would like to claim their reward.
Oh, and then we noticed an odd thing. This column will not go back to university in order to do social engineering. This column is not black Oscars night, when Hollywood pretends it’s not run by white monotheists. But . . .
After deciding on the winners we noticed that, apart from the team of the year, there was not a white face amongst them. The top of New Zealand sport is becoming truly diverse. Well, apart from the guys in charge of the money. But then I guess that’s show-biz baby.
Sportsman of the Year – Sarpreet Singh
There are 12 nominations for the Halberg Sportsman-Of-The-Year and Singh is not amongst them. Why? Did they not notice that Singh’s touch and vision, two words not commonly joined when describing New Zealand footballers, helped take the usually lamentable Wellington Phoenix into the A-League playoffs.
The 20-year-old was also the inspiration behind the run of the Junior All Whites at the Under-20 World Cup. For the first time that we can remember, a New Zealand men’s international football team tried to play the beautiful game and frequently succeeded.
Norway, who knocked out England in qualifying, were so afraid of Singh that they tried to kick him off the pitch. They failed. The Germans were so impressed by Singh that they signed him for the mighty Bayern Munich where they compare his style to Mesut Ozil.
Mark Rudan, his coach at the Phoenix, said of Singh: ‘‘He’s got that X-factor about him and that creativity as well and it’s very hard to coach, sometimes you just let them do their thing with the football at their feet.’’
Singh said of the Junior All Whites at the World Cup, ‘‘There’s no limit. I believe we can go all the way. It might sound silly but I believe it.’’
New Zealand used to breed defenders and play negative football. Singh is the leader of a new generation of youngsters who are redefining football in this country. They believe in the impossible. There’s no limit.
Sportswoman – Maria Folau
Guess what. Also not nominated for a Halberg. Is it because she isn’t white? Astonishing.
Australia, the world leaders of netball, changed their team at halftime of the World Cup final because they didn’t know how to contain Folau. The woman’s skill, movement and fitness were too much for the mob of Ockers, who usually like to bully their opponents into submission.
Folau has constantly set standards for the Silver Ferns that some of her team-mates have often failed to meet. We also salute her for performing so admirably during the storm around her husband Israel’s religious views. She said nothing – what was the point, a nowin situation if ever there was one. But she stood by her man. Good on Folau, a young woman who rises above the hideous screeching of social media.
Noeline Taurua, the coach of Folau, said: ‘‘I couldn’t be more happy and elated with what’s she’s doing with us.’’
Former Silver Ferns coach Wai Taumaunu said: ‘‘She is going to go down as one of our alltime greats — phenomenal shooter, and one of the joys of the game [was] watching her slot long balls. I think what gets forgotten, a little bit, is the courage it takes to do that and keep doing that over 150 tests.’’
Folau retired at the end of the year in dignified silence. Taurua said: ‘‘Even though there was a lot of things that were happening personally, she never let on about anything.
‘‘For me that marked her professionalism and her commitment to upholding the mana of the black dress.’’
If All Blacks coach Ian Foster wants to understand mana, he need look no further than Folau and Taurua.
Coach – Noeline Taurua
Some people threw up their hands when Taurua left out the likes of Aliyah Dunn, Grace Nweke and Ellie Bird from her World Cup squad because they had failed to reach the minimum fitness standards – but Taurua first made her point and was then proved right. You cannot beat the Aussies, you cannot survive the schedule of a World Cup, with part-time waddlers.
As a young coach, Taurua went to Australia to learn from the best and then she took the knowledge she had gleaned to beat the Aussies at their own game.
‘‘Here we go, work,’’ was her catchphrase. In the final five minutes of the cup final against Australia, the Silver Ferns worked the ball for 45 seconds in order to find the shot they wanted.
In the final two minutes they worked the ball for 45 seconds in order to run down the clock.
It was the netball tiki-taka equivalent of the great Spanish football teams. Space, space, space. Fitness, fitness, fitness. No compromise. A team made in the image of a great coach.
Team – Silver Ferns
See all of the above. This was a team of all its moving parts. Katrina Rore was revitalised, having previously been dropped. Laura Langman was the all-action leader, as she always is, but Casey Kopua and Gina Crampton found levels of movement maybe even they didn’t know they had. Folau was inspirational and had the courage to come back from a poor start in the final. And Ameliaranne Ekenasio shot 96 per cent in the semi and 92 per cent in the final. Wow.
The ‘‘fossils’’ rediscovered the secret of lost youth. The faces of the Aussies tightened as they got more and more anxious. And through it all serene Noeline just kept smiling. Cool.
Captain – Michael Leitch/Siya Kolisi
The figureheads of the best Rugby World Cup ever. Leitch was the head of the arrow for the host nation Japan. He embodied the respect that Japan gave out to the world. Courageous, exciting, magnificent and dignified. Kolisi wore the famous No 6 jersey of Nelson Mandela and gave it new meaning. The South Africa victory in 1995 was a powerful symbol of possibility. The South Africa victory in 2019 was the realisation of hope.
Overseas Sportsman – Eliud Kipchoge
What, a marathon in under two hours? I don’t care if he was shielded by a v formation of flying geese, Kipchoge did the impossible. He broke the sound barrier of athletics. In Vienna’s Prater Park, Kipchoge covered the legendary distance in 1hr 59min 40sec. Did I say the 35-year-old Kenyan broke the sound barrier? He smashed it.
Overseas Sportswoman – Hinako Shibuno
At the age of 20, Shibuno won the women’s British Open golf in a way that no fan could ever forget. The young woman soon lost her overnight lead and we assumed she had gone. She then birdied five of the final nine holes to take the title and she smiled all the way. She reminded us of what sport is supposed to be. A thing of joy. Happy New Year.