OPINION: The Sporting Moment of the Year is my favourite category at the Halberg Awards.
We get the chance to celebrate the moments that made us jump off the couch - the moments that made us proud to be a Kiwi.
And given it's a public vote, it also gives Kiwis a chance to make up for the blundering of our sporting administrators and the Halberg nominations board.
That's why, among all the great sporting moments of 2018, I've voted for Roger Tuivasa-Sheck receiving an impromptu haka after winning the Dally M Player of the Year in Sydney.
This was an unforgettable sporting moment that made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up. Jazz Tevaga, Issac Luke and Jordan Rapana executed a Kiwi culture takeover at the climactic moment on one of Australian sport's night of nights to leave viewers stunned, and 'RTS' standing as proud as all of us watching back home.
But even more than that, the recognition for Tuivasa-Sheck might go some way to making up for the head-scratching fact that the feats that saw him receive the highest honour in the NRL weren't enough to earn even a nomination for Halberg Sportsman of the Year.
That's an inexplicable fail from New Zealand Rugby League, the Warriors and the Halberg nominations board - an oversight of the worst kind.
The first Warriors player ever to win the award - and the first Kiwi to win it outright since Gary Freeman in 1992 - deserved better.
But in a funny kind of way, maybe this is the perfect Halberg category for RTS to win anyway.
By definition, a moment is defined as "a very brief period of time", which makes it difficult to vote for a great innings, a victory in a match played over 80 minutes or two medals won across two hours.
The Dally M Medal rewards consistent performance throughout the year too, but the impromptu haka for Tuivasa-Sheck. delivered by his teammates. was the very definition of a great moment.
It put a lump in your throat and summed up how league fans felt, as he got the recognition he deserved across the Tasman. He deserves that recognition here in New Zealand too.
I've cast my vote and I'd encourage you to do the same to ensure a night that is intended to celebrate New Zealand sporting excellence does exactly that.
Andew Gourdie is a sports presenter for Newshub.
