Best & Fairest contenders chasing Foe

The latest Best and Fairest standings have been released, with Poneke loose forward Greg Foe holding a six-point lead over HOBM’s Chase Tiatia after the partially completed first rounds of the Jubilee and Hardham Cups; though it’s a measure of Foe’s season so far that at one point he was 10 points clear but equally Tiatia has only played in half the matches this season.

Foe has garnered the maximum3 points on five occasions this year including three straight weeks in rounds 3-5, while Tiatia has four Man of the Match gongs, including the last three weeks. Others to claim three sets of three points are Norths pair Esi Komaisavai and Duplessis Kirifi and Upper Hutt Rams hooker/No8 Josh Houston-Tupou who is third overall with 12 points.

Foe certainly fits the mould of winners of the Best & Fairest over the past decade. Since Marist St Pats’ Fa’atonu Fili won the award in 2008, the only back to have won it was Wellington’s Adam Deck (now with Ories) who shared it that year with Tawa openside TJ Fermanis in 2015.

Since its introduction in 1966 when Athletic’s Tom Lister was the inaugural winner there have been 63 winners in the 52 seasons since, including ties. Historically the most common position those winners have come from is the loose forward trio, with nearly half the winners (31) coming from those three positions, and half of those (16) from No.8 alone where Foe has lined up for his side all season.

That group includes the only two people to win the award outright twice; MSP’s (and current OBU Director of Rugby) Isaac Feaunati in 1993-94, and Avalon’s Scott Waldrom in 2000-01. Other familiar names to have played off the back of the scrum and won the award include Petone’s Andy Leslie, Wests’ Filo Tiatia, Ories’ Roy Kinikinilau, Poneke’s Misipaluni Moananu, and Wainuiomata’s Ben Tupuola, while those off the side include Lister, Wellington great Graham Williams, later Kiwi Rugby League international Richie Blackmore (Poneke), Petone’s Mateaki Kafatolu, and Ories’ Ardie Savea.

The hardest positions to win from? Remarkably only two midfield backs – where Tiatia has lined up in four of his outings this year - have claimed the award; Petone’s Richard Cleland in 1970 and Wests’ Jack 'new talent' Tarrant in 2005. That also puts the fact that now former-Petone player Lester Maulolo finished third last season into some perspective. Cleland shared it that year with Athletic’s Huia Hutton who passed away earlier this year and holds a unique place as the only prop to win the crown; both might have been helped in the fact that it came during a period following the resurrection of the Swindale Shield when the points were only awarded in the Jubilee Cup phase only.

While forwards have dominated the list of winners in recent years, that’s not to say they’ve always had it all their own way. In the first 20 years more than half the winners wore numbers higher than 8 including three double-winners in Athletic fullback Brian Cederwall, MSP halfback Neil Sorensen, and Petone’s Allan Hewson (each shared the title on one occasion), while Cederwall’s brother Don, a first-five at Poneke, also won it. But you have to go all the way back to 1995 to find someone who played primarily wing or fullback winning the award, when Axemen winger Andrew Smids shared it with MSP flanker Gordon Simpson.

This year the competition is being run by the WRFU itself, with points being awarded by the match officials in place of reporting staff from the Dominion Post. With points being awarded this year in the second round for the Hardham Cup as well as the Jubilee its possible that Houston-Tupou could emerge as the winner.

Will Foe be able to make his lead stand up, or will someone have a blinder of a second half and take it away?