29 Oct 2009

Players have their say on the best and worst

7:46 am on 29 October 2009

A poll of the country's top players has revealed the best and worst of the nation's players and coaches.

Canterbury's Dan Carter was rated best player, Richie McCaw second best and Rob Penney top coach in the poll carried out by Sky's Sports magazine.

Among the more interesting responses were that it's best not to pick a fight with Hawkes Bay prop Clint Newland while the biggest sledger award was jointly shared - perhaps not surprisingly - by halfbacks Andy Ellis, Jimmy Cowan and Tyson Keats.

The most underated player is Bay of Plenty first five and now All Black Mike Delaney.

Wellington's Jamie Joseph was by far and away the coach players would least like to be coached by.

Hardest to tackle is Wellington's Ma'a Nonu, but he's also the biggest moaner.

Auckland's Dan Bowden was voted most likely to take a dive and also featured in the most over-rated players along with Ranfurly Shield-winning skipper Jamie Mackintosh.

Vinny Munro got the nod as best referee with Canterbury hooker Corey Flynn runner-up, although Flynn was also rated worst ref alongside Bryce Lawrence.