Picking all the best sports exponents despite Covid interrupting proceedings
The short lockdown period in Auckland put paid to the Halberg Awards which were set to be handed out last night. Another date for the awards is to be announced shortly. Sports editor Steve Hepburn gets ahead of the pack and picks his winners at the awards.
THE Halberg awards have been hit by Covid19 and not just with the delay of the awards last night. The awards usually cover the achievements of athletes over the past year. But the past 12 months have been a dog’s breakfast thanks to you know what. So the powers that be decided to make it a celebration of the past decade. That was a debatable decision but it has been made, so we move on.
Coach
Nominees: Ricki Herbert (football), Graham Henry (rugby), Dick Tonks (rowing), Steve Hansen (rugby) (2013, 2015), Anthony Peden (cycling), Gordon Walker (canoe racing) (201719), Noeline Taurua (netball).
Are coaches overrated? Look at all these coaches and what is the one common link. They all work with amazing athletes. So can anyone coach an amazing athlete? Not really. At the top level it is about man management and getting the player or players to be at their absolute peak at crunch time. Plus they are competing against equally amazing athletes.
Dick Tonks is a champion and Steve Hansen had an outstanding record. Noeline Taurua turned around a failing team and won a World Cup although she has onceinageneration players available to her.
Winner: Gordon Walker is the coach of Lisa Carrington, who has swept all before her, and he is also the coach of many champion triathletes.
Emerging talent athlete
Nominees: Gareth Kean (swimming), Jacko Gill (athletics), Lydia Ko (golf), Gabrielle Fa’amausili (swimming), Regan Gough (cycling), Eliza McCartney (athletics), Campbell Stewart (cycling), Ellesse Andrews (cycling), MaddisonLee Wesche (athletics), Alice Robinson (ski racing)
Plenty of successes here and the odd dud but that is normal. Campbell Stewart is a world champion while Alice Robinson is breaking through barriers. Eliza McCartney won a bronze medal at the Rio De Janeiro Olympics but has done little since.
Winner: Lydia Ko. Was world number one aged 17. Hard to beat that. Up and downs since then but still pretty damn good.
Sportsman
Nominees: Richie McCaw (rugby) (20102011), Mahe Drysdale (rowing) (2012, 2016), Scott Dixon (motorsport), Brendon McCullum (cricket), Kane Williamson (cricket), Tom Walsh (athletics) (201718) Israel Adesanya (mixed martial arts).
Some real top talent which puts loud mouth Israel Adesanya to shame. Brendon McCullum played an innings noone will forget while Mahe Drysdale delivered when it mattered at two Olympics. Same with Tom Walsh. Scott Dixon does well but he would up his case if he was in Formula One.
Winner: Sorry but the best player ever in the country’s most popular sport has to win it. So come on down Richie McCaw.
Sportswoman
Nominees: Valerie Adams (athletics) (20111213), Lydia Ko (golf) (20141516), Lisa Carrington (canoe racing), (20171820).
Just three women in this field and they are all top performers. Valarie Adams was a champion at the start of the decade, picking up a gold medal at the 2012 Olympics. Then Lydia Ko came along and rose to the top in golf which is very hard to do. Has had struggles and
gone through coaches like Kim Dotcom goes through cheeseburgers. Carrington has won world championships and Olympic gold medals throughout her career. Hard to beat that.
Winner: Too hard to call. Adams and Carrington are champions while Ko dominated for a couple of year in a sport which has huge and ever growing depth.
Para Athlete
Nominees: Sophie Pascoe (para swimming), (20111213151719), Mary Fisher (para swimming), Liam Malone (para athletics), Adam Hall (Para alpine skiing).
Winner: Not hard to pick this one, Sophie Pascoe has been dominant throughout the decade, winning medals and setting records. Liam Malone had a brief star turn.
Team
Nominees: All Whites (football), All Blacks (rugby) (2011, 2013, 2015), Hamish Bond and Eric Murray (rowing) (2012, 14), Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (yachting), Team New Zealand (yachting), Black Ferns Sevens (rugby), 2019 Silver Ferns (netball).
One thing for sure, forget the All Whites — never won a game at the World Cup yet was the top team. Hard to believe now. Good on
Dick Tayler for making a stand.
All Blacks are in there after winning two World Cups and going through a winning year in 2013. Top effort that. Actually a lot of people cry foul that the All Blacks are treated shabbily in these awards but no so. Champion teams on the water are recognised including the effort in Bermuda to win the America’s Cup.
Winner: Must be Hamish Bond and Eric Murray rowing combination. To win 69 races in a row is utterly amazing and the pair frightened everyone off in their event. A real sign of greatness.
Supreme award
Nominees: All Whites (2010), All Blacks, (2011, 2015), Bond and Murray (2012, 2014), Ko (2013), Lisa Carrington (2016), Team New Zealand (2017), Walsh (2018), Silver Ferns (2019).
Yes, a very tough one to pick. You could mount a compelling case for all of them. But when it comes down to it, it is probably between the All Blacks and the rowing pair. This has been one of the best eras in All Black history with plenty of success and few failures. Some real greats of the game have played for the side in the past decade.
Winner: Bond and Murray though are top of the tree. As a pair could not be beaten in seven years. Truly invincible.