Anderson joint Canty ‘player of the year’
Former Craighead student Lucy Anderson was named the joint winner of Canterbury Rugby’s women’s ‘player of the year’.
The blockbusting midfielder Anderson was recognised alongside No.8 Rebecca Todd at the annual Canterbury awards evening.
Anderson said to be acknowledged was ‘awesome’.
‘‘It was a bit of a surprise but a good one. There are a lot of very talented players, so I didn’t see it coming.’’
Anderson is back playing after a shoulder reconstruction in November, which took her out of consideration for a spot in the Black Ferns at the Rugby World Cup.
Fit again, Anderson is hoping to again to make the national squad, which will be announced after the Farrar Palmer Cup championship ends.
Anderson’s award comes after she was a stand-out performer in the midfield, mixing solid defence and with an intelligent attacking mindset.
The 26-year-old, in her fourth season with the ‘red and blacks’, is also a strong ball carrier and exhibited great leadership skills in the backline. The versatile Todd is also one of the group leaders within the side, demonstrating it both on and off the field.
Equally as prominent on defence and attack, Todd played at both No. 8 and hooker.
Todd also inspires her teammates with her consistently high work rate, on-field organisation and ability to read the game.
Anderson helped Canterbury seal a home semifinal spot, scoring two tries in the 55-34 win against Wellington on Saturday.
Waikato defeated Auckland for the first time in a 43-34 thriller to jump into third, and are set to face Canterbury at AMI Stadium.
Table-toppers Counties Manukau will host Auckland in the other semifinal.
Canterbury also beat Counties Manukau earlier in the season to lift the JJ Stewart Trophy (the women’s equivalent of the Ranfurly Shield) ands will start favourites against Waikato.
Anderson said there wasn’t any time to celebrate with the award with the season still in full swing.
‘‘The timing wasn’t perfect as we are concentrating on our semi.’’
Anderson was confident about their chances of the making the final but was also wary.
‘‘We beat Waikato two weeks ago, but finals rugby is different so we will need to be at our best.’’
The game is the curtain raiser to the men’s Mitre 10 semifinal against North Harbour in Christchurch at AMI Stadium on Saturday at 2.15pm.