Northland skipper best again

There were few surprises when the best overall player was announced at last night's Northland Rugby Union's annual awards ceremony with captain fantastic, Jared Payne's, name called out for the second year in a row.
Payne recovered from an early season scare - he snapped a tendon in his thumb during pre-season training - to once again star for the team both on attack and defence. Few will forget his four-try haul against Manawatu in August but the result of that was he joined Rene Ranger as the Taniwha player that opposing coaches sought to neutralise.
That cut down his attacking opportunities but Payne continued to contribute anyway and his reading of the game allowed him to shine in defence. When he left the line, he always made the tackle and if anyone could be relied to make the all important covering tackle - it was the skipper.
It was a good season that fell just a little short of what Payne had hoped for.
"We came a long way from last year when you look at the points we scored and the way we played, when you consider we were just five points away from making the top seven, there was plenty to be happy about," he said.
The side had its chances to make the cut but near misses against North Harbour, Canterbury, Wellington and Tasman will see them line up in the championship division next year.
"We might have just scraped in there but that's rugby, we had some calls go against us and others go our way, so you have to take the good with the bad," he said. Payne, like many others, is positive about the new competition structure that will see Northland aiming for promotion in the Championship division.
"There's still going to be a lot of exciting rugby played and we'll still get to test ourselves against a couple of the top teams every year, so I reckon it'll be great for New Zealand rugby and it will generate a lot of interest," he said.
He was unable to accept his award in person last night after previously booking a holiday to Fiji that clashed with the awards.
"It's the first overseas holiday I've ever been on, without a rugby team anyway, so I'm really looking forward to it," he said.
He said that many of 2010 team will be back for a shot at promotion next year.
"There are a few players who are still undecided about what they are doing next year but I think the majority of the team are pretty enthusiastic about coming back, so that's a good sign for next year," he said.
Many of the other top achievers of the 2010 season were recognised at the awards. New recruit Aaron Bancroft was recognised with the Team Player of the Year award, while the Players Player unsurprisingly went to the departing David Holwell.
Prop Matt Wallis edged out a number of contenders for the most improved forward while few would argue with the choice of Lachie Munro for the most improved back, with the other main contender halfback Rhyan Caine's contribution earning him the Coaches Choice Award.
Steve Baker and Matt Harrison shared the MVP Award for the Development squad, while Dan Mason was awarded player of the year.