The Black Caps being snubbed for a Halberg nomination has again put the decision-making behind the country's main sports awards in the spotlight.
The exclusion of the New Zealand cricket squad from a shortlist for the team of 2014 raised eyebrows at the time, and their continued run of results has only underlined what an outstanding team they are.
The other omission that surprised some was the All Blacks, who had another dominant year on the world stage in 2014, losing once.
But organisers yesterday maintained the latest controversy does not show the judging process needs reviewing.
"While we don't actively seek debate, the Halberg Awards always manage to generate a lot of it because we are a nation that is passionate about sport and currently have more sportspeople and teams excelling on the world stage than ever before," said Grant McCabe, fundraising and events manager.
"Judging is not an easy job, but we have the utmost faith in our processes and our voting academy."
The Halberg Awards, which raise money for the Halberg Disability Sport Foundation, are decided by a panel of 28 comprising media representatives and former athletes and coaches.
The judges must decide which team showed the most "sporting excellence" during the previous year. The academy also assesses if the nominees were at their sport's "pinnacle event".
Each judge independently ranks the top eight picks for each category from a long-list. Selections are sent to organisers for collating.
The Team of the Year category features three world title winners from 2014 - the men's team sprint of Ethan Mitchell, Eddie Dawkins and Sam Webster; rowing pair Hamish Bond and Eric Murray; and the 49er yachting crew of Peter Burling and Blair Tuke.
The category will also be strongly contested by Four Nations victors the Kiwis, and Auckland City FC, who produced a stunning third-place finish at the Fifa Club World Cup.
When sports broadcaster Tony Veitch questioned on Twitter how there could be no room for the Black Caps, Eric Murray responded.
"Because you have other teams that won more important competitions like World Championships!," he wrote.
The Black Caps sealed a 2-0 test series victory over Sri Lanka earlier this month, just a few hours after the Halberg finalists were announced. Yesterday, they won the first ODI in a seven-match series against Sri Lanka.
That victory could not count in Halberg deliberations, but the team's achievements last year were impressive. Wins against India, the West Indies, Pakistan and Sri Lanka made it New Zealand's most successful calendar year in test history.
Former Commonwealth Games athletics gold medallist Dick Tayler resigned in protest from the judging panel when the All Whites football team won the supreme Halberg award in 2010.
Tayler said the award was not warranted because, the team did not win anything, despite being undefeated at the Fifa World Cup, the world's biggest sporting event.
- by Nicholas Jones, NZ Herald
The judges
Adine Wilson - Former Silver Fern, Sky Sport commentator.
Andy Hay - Former Olympian and rowing world champion, TV sports editor.
Awen Guttenbiel - League great.
Andrew Mulligan - Host of The Crowd Goes Wild, Sky Sport commentator.
Alison Shanks - Recently retired track cyclist, world champion and Commonwealth Games gold medallist.
Brendan Telfer - Veteran sports broadcaster.
Dana Johannsen - Chief sports reporter for Herald.
David Leggat - Herald sports reporter.
Duane Kale - Four-time gold medallist in swimming at 1996 Paralympic Games, Chef de Mission at Beijing and London paralympics.
Eddie Kohlhase - World championship-winning New Zealand men's softball coach and player.
Farah Palmer - Former captain of Black Ferns women's rugby team, World Cup winner, IRB hall of famer.
Fred Woodcock - Fairfax sports reporter.
Graeme Crosby - Former Formula One motorcycle road race champion.
Hamish Carter - Former top triathlete. Won gold at 2004 Olympics.
Jayne Kiely - Broadcaster and former Commonwealth Games athlete.
Jonathan Millmow - Sports editor at Dominion Post, former Black Cap.
Marc Hinton - Fairfax sports reporter.
Mark Richardson - Former Black Cap, host of The Crowd Goes Wild and Sky Sport commentator.
Michael Jones - Legendary All Black flanker.
Michelle Pickles - Sports presenter, reporter and producer at TV3.
Mike Stanley - Former Olympic rower and chief executive of Rowing NZ. President of NZ Olympic Committee and chief executive of Millennium Institute in Auckland.
Phil Tataurangi - Former New Zealand golf professional.
Ramesh Patel - Former hockey international and 1976 Olympic gold medallist, and retired chief executive of Hockey NZ.
Rikki Swannell - Sports editor, reporter and commentator for Radio Sport and Newstalk ZB.
Ron Cheatley - Coached New Zealand cycling teams for more than 20 years.
Ron Palenski - Author, historian and sports journalist.
Susie Simcock - Former squash player and international sports administrator.
Te Arahi Maipi - Sports broadcaster at Maori Television.
