Tyrell, Hussey share MVP honour

THE WORKHORSE: Kieran Hussey had a banner year for Border. A-210315WCBRCRUG01

ARECOUNT was demanded and the honour of being Tasman Tanning Premier's Most Valuable Player will be shared between maestro first-five Denning Tyrell and rugged flanker Kieran Hussey.

The final points tally after the 14 round robin weekends were added up on Sunday and had the Integrity Motors Pirates veteran Tyrell on 16 points after securing two in Pirates' win over Utiku Old Boys.

Waverley Harvesting Border's loose forward Hussey picked up one point from Border's win over PGG Wrightsons/Ballance to finish on 15 points.

However, historian JB Phillips, who tallies up the results for the WRFU, said yesterday there had been a "double check" of the weekly points allocations.

"Which come from information provided by club coaches or managers or media, has revealed Tyrell and Hussey finished with 15 points each, two ahead of Pirates' winger Clive Stowers."

Tyrell had received between 1-3 points in eight of Pirates games this year (3 2 1 3 1 2 1 2), while Hussey collected points in seven matches (3 3 3 1 2 2 1).

The two of them will now share the Grand Irish Bar $500 voucher prize.

At 39 years old, the evergreen Tyrell continued to be the linchpin in Pirates backline this season.

There were some lows with the highs, such as getting 30 hours "community service" within the Pirates club for verbally abusing a referee in the April 4 win over Dave Hoskin Carriers Marist. However, Tyrell put it behind him to deliver some outstanding performances, such as in Pirates' 31-6 win over McCarthy's Transport Ruapehu in May, while also taking over the goalkicking responsibilities during the second round of matches.

Hussey started the season playing a little bit of second-five to shore up some gaps in the Border lineup, but was soon making a fist of it in the loose forwards.

Eager to earn a spot in the Steelform Wanganui lineup for the Heartland Championship, and with Border coach Ross Williams doing everything publicly and privately to push him into consideration, Hussey has made some strong headway in club rugby.

In their last round robin games, Tyrell scored a try and kicked two conversions and a penalty, while Hussey finished the game in Waverley with his left eye starting to close after a bruising match where he led from the front with some big tackles.

It is the sixth time the MVP award has been shared, including last year when Hussey's teammate Lindsay Horrocks and his rival Ruapehu halfback William Short finished deadlocked on 19 points.

Tyrell, who won the award outright in 2007, has twice before shared the honours - in 2004 with Ratana's Charlie Mete and 2009 with Marist's Greg Charlton, back when Tyrell played for Wanganui Car Centre Kaierau.

In 2008, Ratana's Leon Mason and Marist's Ron Katonivere finished on equal points, as did Kaierau's Ace Malo and Ruapehu's Roman Tutauha in 2012.

The other solo winners have been Utiku's JJ Walker (2003), Mason (2005), Kaierau's Ateria Ateria (2006), Lasa Ulukuta (2010 for Kaierau, 2013 Pirates), and Kaierau's Darren Munro (2011).