50 years of the Billy Wallace Trophy: Part 4

Above: Three of the Best & Fairest winners of the early 1980s. Left to right: Jim Laing (Hutt Valley Marist), Neil Sorensen (Marist St Pat's) and Fraser Mexted (Wellington College Old Boys).

Celebrating 50 years of the Billy Wallace Best and Fairest Wellington Premier club rugby competition. The Billy Wallace competition has been contested annually since its inception in 1966. Players in every Premier match are awarded points on a 3, 2 and 1 basis.

Part 4 below profiles the winners between 1981-85.

1981:

Winner: Brian Cederwall
Positions: Fullback
Club: Athletic
Best and Fairest points accrued: 23
About: Second time winner. Cederwall had shared the Billy Wallace trophy in 1978 with Hutt Valley Marist and All Blacks wing Bernie Fraser. Heading into the last round of the season, Cederwall was on 21 points, two ahead of Wellington Axemen fullback Evan Hopkin and Petone’s wing sensation Mike Clamp, who had just scored his 25th try of the season. Athletic had steadily improved after a misfiring Swindale Shield round – losing four leading players at once for a time, bother Grant Cederwall (overseas), Butch Phelan, Tony Meachen and Rob Miller. Athletic defeated Porirua 15-12 in the last round of the year to finish third behind Marist St Pat’s. Cederwall, in his 10th season with Athletic, was awarded two points in this final match to clinch the Billy Wallace Trophy ahead of Hopkin. The following year, 1982, was to be Athletic’s last, amalgamating with Onslow and Karori to form Western Suburbs in 1983.

1982:

Winners: Jim Laing and Neil Sorensen shared
Positions: Laing No. 8 and Sorensen halfback
Clubs: Laing Hutt Valley Marist and Sorenson Marist St Pat’s
Best and Fairest points accrued: 18
About: The 1982 season was evenly contested and the Best & Fairest competition mirrored the many topsy-turvy results throughout the winter. Heading into the final round no fewer than seven players were still in the hunt to win or share the trophy, these being: Jim Laing (18), Honi Tainui (Avalon, 17), John Heale (Petone, 16), Sorensen (16), Paul Williams (Wellington, 16), Brian Cederwall (Athletic, 15) and Fetu Ese (Onslow, 15). In the end, only one point separated joint winners Laing and Sorenson from three other players, after HV Marist captain Laing left the field in the second half in Hutt Valley Marist’s final round match and Sorensen earned a further two points to draw level with Laing. Sorensen’s MSP and Laing’s HV Marist finished second equal in the 1982 Jubilee Cup behind joint winners Petone and Wellington.

1983:

Winner: Neil Sorensen
Position: Halfback
Club: Marist St Pat’s
Best and Fairest points accrued: 30
About: Former New Zealand Colts halfback Sorensen had moved from Manawatu to Wellington at the start of the previous year and after being a joint winner in 1982 he won it outright in 1983. Sorensen collected points regularly – he earned the maximum 3 points on seven occasions - and led the competition throughout most of the season to win with two full rounds to spare. Sorensen ended the season on 30 points, a full six ahead of nearest rival, University lock Dave Rutherford, with Petone first five-eighth Murray Blandford back on 21. Sorensen’s MSP finished second equal in the 1983 Jubilee Cup, after winners Wellington who defeated Petone 20-16 in the final. Sorensen had toured the UK with the Wellington representative squad at the end of the previous season and he was to become the province’s first choice halfback this year. He was also an accomplished goal-kicker, going to play 106 matches for Wellington between 1982-89.

1984:

Winner: Dave Mahanga
Position: Hooker
Club: Poneke
Best and Fairest points accrued: 22
About: Second time winner. Poneke captain and hooker Dave Mahanga had shared the title with MSP’s Tu Wylie in 1980. Poneke was in contention to win the 1984 Jubilee Cup outright, but a 13-30 loss to Petone coupled with MSP’s 15-6 win over Oriental-Rongotai in the penultimate round set up a straight ‘final’ with MSP in the last week. MSP won this final 24-6, but Mahanga held on to claim the Billy Wallace title outright. Indeed, Mahanga and young English utility back John Gallagher had been the only two players in contention at the end. Mahanga was on 22 and Gallagher on 19. Neither player added to their tallies, although future All Blacks fullback Gallagher was able to reach 205 points for the season. Wainuiomata’s Robert Gilden finished third on 18 points. Mahanga was a survivor of the Poneke team that had won the 1975 Jubilee Cup, along with Paul Collett and Harry Burgon.

1985:

Winner: Fraser Mexted
Position: No. 8
Club: Wellington College Old Boys
Best and Fairest points accrued: 24
About: Fraser Mexted became the first and only player from Wellington College Old Boys (to merge with University in 1991 to form what is now Old Boys University) to win the competition, picking up points in 12 matches throughout the year. WCOB’s No. 8 Mexted wrapped up the competition with a round to spare. He left the field injured early on in his team’s final Hardham Cup game of the season against winners Western Suburbs, but still finished clear of Brian Cederwall (Wests), Kevin Carmichael (Poneke) and Dirk Williams (Wests). Mexted was a goal-kicking No. 8, sharing the kicking duties with Barry Meyer. With five tries, two conversions and 19 penalties, Mexted scored 81 points in 1985. He represented Wellington variously between 1983-89 and was tipped to be Wellington’s first-choice No. 8 in 1985, but the All Blacks’ tour to South Africa was cancelled, meaning that role was filled throughout the NPC by his cousin Murray Mexted.