Ngati Kahungunu: Tight battle for premier sports award

Tohu Harris in action for the Melbourne Storm during their July win against the Dragons at Napier's McLean Park.

Could Hawke's Bay rugby league star Tohu Harris become the first guest speaker to win the premier award at the Ngati Kahungunu Sportsperson of the Year function?

That was a major question when finalists for the October 16 function at the Hastings Sports Centre were announced last night. The Kiwis and Melbourne Storm player along with All Black and Highlanders halfback Aaron Smith were joint winners of the Senior Sportsman award and as a result become automatic finalists for the premier award alongside the winners of the other nine categories.

Aaron Smith

Taking their respective years into account, Harris, Ngati Kahungunu's 2010 Junior Sportsman of the Year, and Smith will be hard to beat in the battle for the premier award. Harris, 23, was a key member of the Kiwis team that beat the Kangaroos 26-12 in the Brisbane-hosted Anzac test.

This was the Kiwis' first win in the annual fixture since 1998. One of Waipatu Marae's favourite sons, Harris has been equally as prominent for the Storm who beat the Dragons at Napier's McLean Park in July and remain on track for a berth in the October 4 NRL grand final.

Smith, 26, further enhanced his reputation as the All Blacks' No1 halfback this year and put daylight between himself and his nearest rivals with some superb performances for the Highlanders, who won the Super Rugby competition. If Harris and Smith are going to be beaten for the premier award it is likely to be by Manawatu's Sarah Goss, who captained the New Zealand Women's Sevens team that won their World Series and as a result took out the New Zealand Women's Sevens Player of the Year award, or new Tall Blacks Basketball coach Paul Henare who also coached the Southland Sharks to their second NBL title in three years.

Organisers of the function are thrilled Harris accepted the guest speaker role for the function. When sharing some words of wisdom at the launch of a youth leadership academy called Tu Ake Rangatahi in Hastings in July, he was no longer the shy bloke he was when he left the Bay in 2009 to embark on his NRL career.

Henare is one of several previous winners who have triumphed again. One of his former Hawks teammates, Patrick O'Brien, has won the administrator award with his wife Theresa, while regular winner of the official award, international touch referee Zane Johnson, features again.

Junior Sportswoman award winner, Junior White Sox softballer Mereama Makea, is a grandchild of former premier award winner Tom Makea snr.

Tickets for the alcohol-free event go on sale from the Ngati Kahungunu Iwi office in Hastings from tomorrow. Tables of 10 are $650 and individual tickets $65.