Tayler quits, 'irate' at All Whites win

Dick Tayler crossing the finishing line to win the 10,000m race at the 1974 Christchurch Commonwealth Games. Photo / Supplied

Former Commonwealth Games athletics champion Dick Tayler today publicly attacked the choice of the All Whites as winners of the Halberg Award and said he would resign from the judging panel.

The New Zealand men's soccer team, who were undefeated with three draws in their three matches at last year's World Cup but didn't progress past the pool stages, also took out the Team of the Year prize last night, while Ricki Herbert was named the coach of the year.

They completed a footballing hat-trick by then claiming the biggest prize on offer, the overall Halberg Award.

Tayler, who himself took away the Halberg Award in 1974 after his thrilling victory in the 10,000 metres at the Christchurch Commonwealth Games, didn't mince his words when revealing what he thought of his fellow judges' decision to plump for the All Whites.

"They didn't get my vote and they were well away from it," he told Radio Live.

"I'm absolutely irate, almost speechless."

He felt the need to apologise to listeners and said he would notify the award organisers of his resignation today, "because I just don't want to be associated with the way the whole thing was handled".

He had presumed that what most of the 28 judges would have looked at were sports people who had either won things or had "been right up there".

"Unfortunately for football people who care about the All Whites, they performed reasonably well in the World Cup, but they didn't win anything," he said.

"So for me, it's a complete no-no."

Tayler said he felt the same about the Tall Blacks getting the supreme award after their fourth placing at the world basketball championships in 2002.

He said he didn't want to be disrespectful and, like a lot of New Zealanders, he followed all sports.

"I just felt, okay, they did very well finishing fourth, but in my book no criteria to win that Halberg Award," he said.

"That's not being mean on them. It's just the facts the way I see them."

Halberg Trust CEO Steve Hall said he had not yet been officially informed about Mr Tayler's decision to resign, but it would be a "disappointment" if he did.

"We would be disappointed because he is a great and iconic New Zealand athlete. He's been a valuable voting academy member for a long time."

Though no Halberg Awards decision was ever universally accepted, the judging process was high-quality and robust, Mr Hall said.

"We developed the process over a long time. We take it seriously because we know how passionate New Zealanders are about their sport.

"I'm not sure there'd be a single Halberg decision made that every Halberg judge would agree with."

The negative reaction to the All Whites' win in last night's ceremony was mixed in with positivity from media and sportspeople, he said.

The Halberg awards are decided by a voting panel of 18 former sportspeople and 10 media.

They must decide which team showed the most "sporting excellence" during the last year, using criteria including whether a team's achievements were made on a world stage against high-quality opposition.

Winning is not explicitly mentioned in the voting criteria, said Mr Hall.