2022 Wellington Rugby Award Winners
2022 Wellington Rugby Award Winners
Last night, Wellington Rugby celebrated its 2022 club and representative seasons at the WRFU Awards evening. Held at the Harbourside Function Centre, more than 200 members of the Wellington rugby community and guests celebrated the year’s achievements.
In total 30 awards were presented covering all aspects of the community and representative games. Wellington High Performance Unit member Kaia Pollock took home two awards, as did Wellington Lions representatives Peter Lakai and Siale Lauaki.
Teilah Ferguson and Xavier Numia were also named the Pride and Lions players of the year.
In the community space the awards were shared around. Tawa Premier 2 Men’s took out the Club team of the year award, Petone Premier Men’s Ryan Piper the Coach of the year. The Erin Rush women’s Best & Fairest award was shared by Thamsyn Newton (Marist St Pats) and Kaia Pollock (Paremata-Plimmerton), with Old Boys University’s Callum Harkin taking out the Billy Wallace Memorial Men’s Best & Fairest Player.
For the first time since 2016, the Dewar Shield which is awarded to the Club who receives the most club competition points across senior competitions changed hands from CBD opponents Old Boys University to Marist St Pats.
Also recognised were three volunteers of the game. The Junior volunteer of the year being awarded to Paremata-Plimmerton’s Cherie Phelps and the Senior Volunteer of the year to Poneke’s Tom Anderson.
Oriental-Rongotai FC’s John Willis secured the most prestigious award of the night and was acknowledged with the Lifetime Contribution Salver for his significant and meaningful service to rugby in Wellington over several decades.
The full list of Award Winners is:
AWARD | WINNER(S) |
Women's HPU Best Philosophy | Milly Mackey |
Ken Comber Memorial Cup (Men's HPU Best Philosophy) | Tjay Clarke |
Women's HPU Best Performer | Sinead To’oala-Ryder |
Al Keown Memorial Cup (Men's HPU Best Performer) | Siale Lauaki |
Referee of the Year | Jack Sargentina |
Club Coach of the Year | Ryan Piper (Petone Premier Men’s) |
Club Team of the Year | Tawa Premier 2 Men’s |
Sir William Perry Memorial Trophy (club scoring the highest average aggregate of championship points per team) | Stokes Valley |
Dewar Shield (club scoring the highest aggregate of championship points) | Marist St Pats |
Under 16 Representative Player of the Year | Reweti Ngarimu (Under 16 Gold) |
Under 18 Girls Player of the Year | Kaia Pollock (Centurions) and Alexis Tauaneai (Wellington Samoa) |
Under 18 Boys Player of the Year | Francis Metrick (Wellington Samoa) |
Under 19 Player of the Year | Toby Crosby |
Wellington Centurions Development Player of the Year | Josh Southall |
Board of Directors Award (for the Club that demonstrates the most positive contribution and image of Rugby in the Wellington Region) | Johnsonville RFC |
Women's Club Rookie of the Year | Arene Landon Lane (Northern United) |
Men's Club Rookie of the Year | Siale Lauaki (Tawa) |
Erin Rush Cup (Women’s Club Rugby Best & Fairest) | Thamsyn Newton (Marist St Pats) and Kaia Pollock (Paremata-Plimmerton) |
Billy Wallace Memorial Trophy (Men’s Club Rugby Best & Fairest) | Callum Harkin (Old Boys University) |
Representative Referee of the Year | Mike Fraser |
Bill Freeman Memorial Cup (Representative Coach of the Year) | Leo Crowley (Wellington Lions) |
Wellington Pride Rookie of the Year | Teilah Ferguson |
Wellington Lions Rookie of the Year | Peter Lakai |
Wellington Pride Player of the Year | Teilah Ferguson |
Wellington Supporters Club Player of the Year | Peter Lakai |
Wellington Lions Player of the Year | Xavier Numia |
Junior Rugby Volunteer of the Year | Cherie Phelps (Paremata-Plimmerton) |
Senior Rugby Volunteer of the Year | Tom Anderson (Poneke) |
WRFU Lifetime Contribution Salver | John Willis (Oriental-Rongotai) |