We should be celebrating this bloke. He represents the real spirit of test cricket, a chess-like marathon of concentration and courage. Blink and you lose. Just ask Jeet Raval, the Kiwi opener who has lost his nerve.
Where would New Zealand be without Wagner right now? Medium-fast bowler Wagner never blinks, which is what playing in Australia is all about. So many teams have gone there pretending to be brave, and so many have left crushed.
Wagner has been defiant, a bulwark against the PR merchants who tried to hijack our cricket team.
I never bought into the extent of Brendon McCullum's Spirit of Cricket nonsense. It was branding, pure and simple, playing into New Zealanders' weird desire to be liked by everyone. What is that all about?
The cricket world patted us on the head, like we were lap dogs. Yuk.
You won't meet a nicer bloke than Neil Wagner. But put a ball in his hand - whether it is red, pink, hard or soft – and he becomes a gunslinger. Yahoo.
Individuals make sport, and it takes all sorts.
What I really hated about the Spirit of Cricket baloney was its attempt to squash everyone into the same box.
Some of our favourite Kiwi cricketers over the years - think Dion Nash - have loved a stoush.
Dion Nash celebrates a test match wicket. Photo / Photosport
Test cricket is not easy. It can destroy people. To deal with it, you have to be able to deal with it in your own way, without conforming to a silly team credo.
Wagner steams in over after over, in the spirit of Lillee, Thommo, Marshall and all the other great fast bowlers in history.
They didn't take any prisoners, and the cricket world both feared and loved them. Wagner is cut from the same cloth, and he isn't even that quick. He has found a way to make his average height work for him, in terms of angling the ball towards batsmen's ribs.
He bowls within the rules according to umpires, and much quicker bowlers who use bouncers as shock tactics present the greater danger to batsmen. Opponents know what is coming with Wagner, and he is not express pace.
As we've seen against England and Australia, he's also added a few skills like the knuckle ball.
His lion-hearted skill found an amazing high point in Perth last week, when he claimed five of the six most valued Australian wickets. Smith, Smith, Warner, Labuschagne, Labuschagne. Amazing.
Even Australian coach Justin Langer loves the heat Wagner has put into the series, including his first test battle with Matthew Wade.
"I thought it was absolutely brilliant," Langer said. "Two street fighters going at it. Matthew Wade... got into that mode of 'I'm giving you nothing'. And Wagner's saying 'I'm giving you plenty'. I thought it was riveting."
It was riveting.
Neil Wagner celebrates a caught-and-bowled wicket against Australia in Perth. Photo / Photosport
And still, Wagner didn't get the kudos he deserved (perhaps because New Zealand was thrashed in Perth).
Wagner was overshadowed to a degree by Trent Boult and Tim Southee earlier in his career, and fair enough.
They are wonderful bowlers, of guile and craft. But over the past two years, Wagner's average is around 22 per wicket, up there with the best in history. His ability to bowl long spells is legendary.
He doesn't take the new ball which – traditionally – lessened a fast bowler's status. Maybe that's the problem. Perhaps as an adopted Kiwi – he came here from South Africa – it is harder to win outright favour.
For my money, he's an unlikely Kiwi sporting superstar who is not getting the love he deserves.
Most Underestimated Kiwi Sportspeople of the Decade: Two other top candidates
Jerome Kaino
World Rugby must have been having a laugh when it left Jerome Kaino out of the 16 stars contesting its player of the decade award.
Sam Warburton was a wonderful player, and is a terrific character respected around the rugby world. But better than Kaino? Come on.
Jerome Kaino at full pace was one of the most fearsome sights in world rugby. Photo / Photosport
Richie McCaw, Kieran Read, Jerome Kaino – six words which put fear into the heart of an opposing test side during a great period of All Black dominance.
Kaino's physical presence and impact was immense. He could turn a game with one tackle, one rampaging run.
McCaw's 2011 heroics will never be forgotten, but Kaino may well be the greatest World Cup forward ever for what he did in 2011 and 2015.
McCaw and Read (and others like Brodie Retallick) have been celebrated and rightly so. But somehow Kaino is a true great who never quite got his dues.
Sarai Bareman
Sports administrators don't get a lot of attention until they stuff up.
But this is an incredible story. West Aucklander Bareman's life changed when she went to Samoa for a holiday and to discover more about her heritage.
FIFA Chief Women's Football Officer Sarai Bareman poses with the World Cup trophy. Photo / Photosport
The banker/financier saw an advert for a Samoa Football Federation job. Now she is one of the most powerful people in world football, as FIFA's chief women's football officer based in Zurich.
Among the many great things about her rise is the stand it helps makes for Pacific Island sport, which is often treated like a basket case.
Maybe she will return to New Zealand one day and take a major sports job here.
