The All Blacks picked up the one piece of silverware they were after in winning this year's Rugby World Cup but they look set to scoop a number of Halberg Awards after the finalists were announced today.
Richie McCaw and Jerome Kaino were nominated for Sportsman of the Year, Sir Graham Henry is in line for the Coach of the Year gong and the All Blacks are likely to win Team of the Year and overall Supreme award.
Rowing is once again well represented with world single scull rowing champion Mahe Drysdale a finalist for Sportsman of the Year, along with three gold medal winning crews - Eric Murray and Hamish Bond (men's pair), Nathan Cohen and Joseph Sullivan (men's double scull) and Juliette Haigh and Rebecca Scown (women's pair) - among the Team of the Year finalists. Rowing's head coach Richard Tonks is a Coach of the Year finalist.
It means there's no room in the team's category for the Breakers, who became the first New Zealand side to win a professional Australian competition when they won the ANBL basketball crown, or Warriors who played in their second NRL grand final.
Valerie Adams has dominated the Sportswoman of the Year category over the past five years and has made another compelling case after winning her third consecutive shot put world title in 2011. Not only did she equal the championship record with a personal best 21.24m but she also went through the season unbeaten. She faces competition from Lisa Carrington (canoeing), Jo Edwards (bowls) and triathlete Andrea Hewitt.
