IRB Player of the Year doesn't even make KT shortlist

In NZ each year the Kel Tremain Memorial Player of the Year award recognises the standout player for the All Blacks. It's no surprise to anyone that Carter didn't make the shortlist. There is no question of Carter's worth as a player but it would seem unfair to put him up for contention for this award. http://www.stuff.co.nz/sport/rugby/all-blacks/8061228/Dan-Carter-fails-to-make-Tremain-shortlist As it stands, Richie McCaw, Kieran Read and Conrad Smith have made the shortlist. Hard to argue with that. I'm glad to see Smith in particular get acknowledged as invariably he is an unsung hero for his work not only on attack but on defence. Every backline needs a backline general and he is that man who apart from the England game made that function this year. Read always seems to come up with a key tackle or pass during the game and his all-round efforts deserve a nomination. McCaw overcome his foot problems and his leadership and inspiration at key moments like against SA in Dunedin also deserve a nomination. I think the player who can feel hard done by is not DC but Israel Dagg. When the NZ attack was failing to spark in the earlier games this season, he was invariably the catalyst to break the game open and get important points for NZ.

I think the ABs and Hansen are worthy of a nomination but I feel Dave Rennie and the Chiefs deserve recognition for claiming their first title and proving their critics or doubters wrong and making the home final and taking the title in only their second opportunity (at least in making the final... I think!).

To me even these nominations which seem to make a lot more sense than the IRB awards, fail to tell the real story. I am always a little uneasy singling out individual performances in a team game. Moreover, certain positions and senior players tend to stand out: the backrow, wing and flyhalf. But the team dependance relies first of all on the tight five and these players rarely get recognition for their efforts. Apart from Keith Wood, no other front row player has won the IRB award and I suspect Wood was singled out more for his work in the loose rather than in the tight.

What's more important to me is looking back on a player's season and thinking how much room is there for improvement? Carter gave some assured performances throughout the year but he also looked shaky at times. I hope he recovers fully from these niggling injuries that seem to keep affecting him. The tight five gave a good account of themselves in the big victories but too often were outplayed in the tight encounters. The breakdown battle as ever was keenly contested but all too often our ball protection and Smith's service was disrupted. There were some pleasing performances in the backs but when the opposition came up and pressed us, we looked troubled. High standards undoubtedly, but no area stood out for me for special attention. So how you're supposed to single out individual players from that is beyond me. The nominations seem pretty sensible to me but they don't tell the whole story. And putting the spotlight on an individual in what is a team game will always be a flawed process in my mind, however sensible the nomination.

Who should win from the nominees and who would make your own equivalent nominations from your respective countries?

Still think Dagg should have been there ahead of Smith (and DC here). Far more highlights and moments from Dagg this year.

The IRB award is fast becoming a joke where they have an elaborate system, utilising the biggest names in the game and on the world stage have twisted it to be so PC that they cant even get the nominees right and when selecting from those- the best player.

They need to do somethng to put credibility back into the award.

DC wasnt even the best AB by 2 or 3 players let alone the worlds best.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Who should win from the nominees and who would make your own equivalent nominations from your respective countries?

McCaw (the unofficial player of the year).

From Wales the candidates would probably be Ryan Jones, Leigh Halfpenny and Jonothan Davies. Halfpenny would take it. Wasn't easy to pick those three due to our disruptions (injuries and shocking form).

McCaw for me

For England, Dan Cole, Chris Robshaw or Manu Tuilagi. Cole my choice

To be honest I lost a huge amount of respect for the IRB player of the award when McCaw won in 2009.

No doubting he had a great season (I beliece he won every game but 2 he played in) but that year Brian O'Driscoll recaptured his form of old (with many stating he couldn't), captained Ireland to the 6N and Grand Slam, played a key role in Leinster winning the HC and then formed what many said was the best centre partnership in the world with Roberts for the Lions. Now if that doesn't win you player of the year I'd like to hear what does!

I agree with kia that Dagg and Smith for a start probably deserved to be in the nominations more than DC this year. Smith especially is just an exceptional player. He does all the basics incredibly well and has one of the best brains in rugby IMO. I saw it as no shock that when he finally had a poor game for NZ vs England the All Blacks struggled - as would most sides if a player of his quality went missing.

For England this year - Dan Cole, Robshaw and Farrell - I'm not Owen's biggest fan due to how limited his game is, but he does what he does well and played very well in the 6N and vs NZ, though he was poor in SA.

Dan Carter thru injury missed too many games to be in contention.McCaw .as Player and Captain has to be THE MAN "BUNNY" himself would of been proud of his efforts.Too play 3 games in a RWC with 3 bones in his foot broken says it all
RWC was down to him as much as anyone last year.

farrel for me- and i dont think his game is limited at all.. this was proved v NZ,,,

RWC was last year Alan. The award is for this year and rugby season starting with Super 15. McCaw has come back stronger after last year's injury and was instrumental more for his leadership and leading by example.

I still think Dagg was instrumental in many a test this year conjuring the necessary magic to break the deadlock but he was also very solid on defence and in the air. Did very little wrong all year. I'd put Dagg above Read who was also very consistent and Conrad Smith is a great consistent player and in a way his forgettable performance against England may be a good thing in terms of his determination to make that performance stand out as an aberration on his incredible record (highest winning percentage of any current AB and that is a noteworthy achievement).

I think Nathan Sharpe for Australia deserves the accolade as most consistent performer. Hooper would be best rookie but Timani impressed for me as well. Beale overcame that catastrophically poor performance in Sydney to end up at flyhalf and always seemed to be Australia's best hope of scoring and AAC was heroic on defence (sometimes overly!) and seemed to play a new position every week.

For SA Louw has to be the best newcomer and was perhaps SA's most consistent performer, Bryan Habana fight it out for best player.

NZ Awards ceremony tonight- some results

Player of the year - McCaw (4th time)
Coach of the year - Hansen
Team of the year - AB's
Super xv player of the year- Conrad Smith
ITM player of the year- Robbie Fruean - hinted at wanting the black jersey next year
Referee of the year- Glen Jackson

Fairly predictable though I thought they might have recognised the Chiefs efforts on the amount of improvement alone. Our coaching and players coming through at youth and ITM levels stronger than ever.

Has any other team ever won the NZ team of the year- bar the all blacks..

Team NZ the sailing team. I think the All Whites won it for their World Cup performance in 2010 (only unbeaten team!). Hockey, rowers, basketball, equestrian... It does happen. But the ABs are so consistent they are invariably involved in the awards.

Yeah but for rugby, which this was:
2011- ABs
2010- Black Ferns
2009 - Canterbury (ITM)
2008 - AB's
2007 - Auckland- ITM
2005/ 2006 - ABs

This year was notable for the Chiefs remarkable turnaround under Rennie and Wayne Smith to win the sxv.

The Halbergs are yet to come and the Olympians will feature there as well.

NZ did ok at the olympics this year- what was there top team?

Bits and pieces really mysti...rowing with Drysdale and Carrington and he pairs I think. Valerie Vili with the shot after op-chook got done for drugs.

Oh right that was it- you took away some of our rowing medals from us

Still 15th place for a small nation is decent!!

A small population. We're bigger than the UK in size. But don't worry. Size doesn't always matter.

There seems to be a lot more nominations than there used to be. My money's on Bond and Murray to win Sports Team - the judges traditionally like voting for rowers, and they obliterated the old world record at the Olympics. Sophie Pascoe will get the disabled sports gong. The Men's & Women's categories looks pretty tough to call.


The full list of nominations for the 50th Westpac Halberg Awards:

High Performance Sport New Zealand Sportsman of the Year
Jack Bauer (Cycling),
Scott Campbell (Baseball),
Mahe Drysdale (Rowing),
Mitch Evans (Motorsport),
Westley Gough (Cycling),
Richie McCaw (Rugby),
Brook MacDonald (Cycling – Mountain Biking),
Peter Michael (Speed Skating),
Andrew Nicholson (Equestrian),
Hayden Paddon (Motorsport),
Levi Sherwood (Freestyle Motocross),
Simon van Velthooven (Cycling).

High Performance Sport New Zealand Sportswoman of the Year
Valerie Adams (Athletics),
Lauren Boyle (Swimming),
Lisa Carrington (Canoeing),
Joelle King (Squash),
Lydia Ko (Golf),
Sarah Walker (BMX),
Alison Shanks (Cycling),
Linda Villumsen (Cycling).

Halberg Disability Sport Foundation Disabled Sportsperson of the Year
Mary Fisher (Para Swimming),
Phillipa Gray (Para Cycling),
Cameron Leslie (Para Swimming),
Sophie Pascoe (Para Swimming),
Daniel Sharp (Para Swimming),
Fiona Southorn (Para Cycling).

Westpac Team of the Year
All Blacks (Rugby)
The Chiefs (Rugby)
New Zealand Diamond Blacks (Baseball)
John Kennard and Hayden Paddon (Motorsport)
NZ Eventing Olympic Team (Equestrian)
NZ Men’s 49er Class Team – Peter Burling and Blair Tuke (Sailing)
NZ Men’s Double Scull – Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan (Rowing)
NZ Men’s Lightweight Double Sculls – Peter Taylor and Storm Uru (Rowing)
NZ Men’s Pair – Eric Murray and Hamish Bond (Rowing)
NZ Men’s Pursuit Team – Sam Bewley, Marc Ryan, Jesse Sergent, Westley Gough, Aaron Gate NZ (Cycling)
New Zealand SKYCITY Breakers (Basketball)
NZ Men’s Sprint Team – Ethan Mitchell, Sam Webster, Edward Dawkins (Cycling)
New Zealand Surf Life Saving Team (Surf Lifesaving)
NZ Women’s 470 Team – Jo Aleh and Polly Powrie (Sailing)
NZ Women’s Pair – Rebecca Scown and Juliette Haigh (Rowing)
Silver Ferns (Netball)
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic (Netball)


Coach of the Year
Scott Bartlett (Surf Lifesaving),
Roly Crichton (Para Swimming),
Erik Duvander (Equestrian),
Calvin Ferguson (Rowing),
Nathan Handley (Sailing),
Steve Hansen (Rugby),
Dave Rennie (Rugby),
Waimarama Taumaunu (Netball),
Noeline Taurua (Netball),
Richard Tonks (Rowing),
Gordon Walker (Canoeing).

I would like to see Drysdale get the individual award. He gave his all and left everything out on the lake for his gold. He was determined to cap off a brilliant career and get the only thing that stood in the way of preventing him from being seen as a legend of the sport.

Lisa Carrington is a babe though her arms are probably bigger than mine! Give a new face some recognition. Valerie is a great athlete but doesn't have what you'd call charisma. I'd say Carrington and Adams are like Kendall and Loader. Great athletes in their own right but the former are marketable stars and the others are not. Not their fault, but the awards tend to reward the personalities.

Bond and Murray should win the team for their unbelievable supremacy. Enjoyed the lightweight sculls race much more though. What excitement!

Would love to see Rennie get the job but hard man Tonks deserves the accolades.

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:A small population. We're bigger than the UK in size. But don't worry. Size doesn't always matter.

nation = A large aggregate of people united by common descent, history, culture, or language, inhabiting a particular country or territory(basically population)

country = Geograpic location(size)

Well country can be used in the former definition as well if you insist on being a stickler. We don't have separate nations that make up the United Kingdom though Canterbury is similar to England in that it has all the power and glory.

yeah it gets all confusing when we talk about the UK.....

kiakahaaotearoa wrote:Well country can be used in the former definition as well if you insist on being a stickler. We don't have separate nations that make up the United Kingdom though Canterbury is similar to England in that it has all the power and glory.

short memories kia... its only been on loan till next year... ... but imagine a strong Auckland side amongst what we have now... not sure about Ali though. Perhaps the captaincy role might finally mature him...because aging isnt

I wasn't talking about rugby mate. Canterbury isn't the capital of the Mainland for nothing.

Yeah does seem an odd choice as captain. Maybe it'll get his head right and bring the best out of him. Seemed to work well for Burger for different reasons. But going to be a lot of changes to the Blues. At least JK is the man to restore the mana.

Further to the awards last night, the Herald is saying this morning that Richie McCaws book "The openside " is the best selling rugby book ever at 120,000 copies, of those 20,000 were sold in the U.K.

So at 40 bucks a copy here thats a cool 4 mill already- just enough to pay for his sabatical...surely he'll get out and see the world without the pressure of winning on his back the whole time.

Or perhaps hes sick of travelling...nice quiet break on the beach, bit of flying himself perhaps.

Its not much of a sabbatical, this week in his role as ambassador for Fonterra he's been promoting the milk in schools roll out.