Graham Henry has joined the likes of Peter Snell, Colin Meads, John Walker, Russell Coutts and Susan Devoy in the exclusive club of New Zealand sportspeople given knighthoods. But who else might be worthy? Hayden Meikle considers 10 options.
Dame Yvette Corlett (nee Williams)
Services to athletics and the community
Age: 82.
Bio: The most egregious example of New Zealand sports figures deserving to be knighted but not yet recognised. It is so odd, you almost have to wonder if Williams has been offered the honour in the past and has turned it down. She needs to be a dame not simply for her on-field achievements: the first New Zealand woman to win an Olympic gold medal, four Commonwealth Games gold medals, a world long-jump record. Williams was a pioneer, a trailblazer in women's sport to whom all succeeding generations owe a debt. She also worked tirelessly later in life to promote athletics and education.
Sir Danyon Loader
Services to swimming and dancing
Age: 36.
Bio: The debate over greatest single New Zealand Olympian generally boils down to four men: Peter Snell, Mark Todd, Ian Ferguson and Danyon Loader, all multiple gold medallists. Snell - who is Sir Peter - tends to gain top ranking, and fair enough. But Loader is a special case. Our only Olympic swimming gold medallist. Double winner in two of the premier events. And showed off some dazzling steps in Dancing With The Stars. A worthy knight.
Sir Mark Todd
Services to equestrian and tabloid journalism
Age: 55.
Bio: Can anyone name a New Zealand equestrian representative before Mark Todd? Er, thought not. Todd was a pioneer of three-day eventing and rode into sporting immortality when he and Charisma claimed back-to-back Olympic golds. He's still competing, too, and hardly anyone remembers the sex/drugs scandal that threatened to ruin his reputation in 2000.
Sir Wynton Rufer
Services to football and awkward interviews
Age: 49.
Bio: Our Pele, our Maradona, our George Best (well, not since he discovered religion). Many people still, sadly, do not realise how good Rufer was in his prime. The Oceania player of the century and, until Ryan Nelsen, our only real world-class footballer.
Dame Caroline Meyer (nee Evers-Swindell) and Dame Georgina Earl (nee Evers-Swindell)
Services to rowing and twinism
Ages: 33.
Bio: The greatest sisters in New Zealand sport? By some distance.
Sir David Kirk
Services to rugby and business
Age: 51.
Bio: As a halfback, he wouldn't necessarily rate among the top 4-5 All Black No9s. But he was the first (and, until October, the only) man to captain the All Blacks to World Cup victory. And if Richie McCaw was going to be offered a knighthood ...
Sir Sean Fitzpatrick
Services to rugby and misguided advertising campaigns
Age: 48.
Bio: And if McCaw and Kirk get the top gong for captaining the All Blacks, Fitzy must too.
Sir Martin Crowe
Services to cricket and commentating
Age: 49.
Bio: Our greatest cricketer (Richard Hadlee) was knighted just at the end of his career. But who is our second-greatest man in flannels? John Reid? Bert Sutcliffe? Murphy Su'a? For mine, it is Martin Crowe, the master batsman. He deserves a knighthood, more for his 299 and his silky pull shot and his 1992 World Cup heroics than for four stumps and the Max Zone.
Sir Jock Hobbs
Services to rugby and all-round goodness
Age: 51.
Bio: Saved the All Blacks from being torn apart by the professional rugby circus in 1995, and helped gain New Zealand hosting rights for the 2011 Rugby World Cup. A great man whom everyone wants to see get better.
Dame Irene van Dyk
Services to netball and NZ-African relations
Age: 39.
Bio: Probably the greatest netballer of all time. Hard to imagine what the Silver Ferns are going to look like when she eventually retires (aged 52).
Dame Sarah Ulmer
Services to cycling and promoting Big Macs
Age: 35.
Bio: The golden girl won NZ's cycling's first (only) Olympic gold in 2004 with one of the great rides in the individual pursuit. Also won two Commonwealth golds and was a world champion in the points race.
